Angels of Stars
by Yue Twili
Summary: Things seemed to have gone from bad to worse for Yuri after he suddenly sprouted wings. What, with being attacked by a strange man in white, then being sent to a world split into two, separated from the others. Yet he, and a few others, never realized that things had gotten more strange, the longer they stay...and what's with the weird images he kept getting from time to time?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I don't care anymore. This plot bunny is evil and won't leave me alone. There's barely any good Tales of Symphonia/Tales of Vesperia crossovers; and the ones that are good are taking too long to update. So…yeah; please bear with me.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_Beware of spoilers._

**_(Edit: The chapter has been fixed up.)_**

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Yuri Lowell. Those who had known him have always seen him as a stubborn bastard. Always impatient, and would rather use his fists to solve problems; whether they are big, small, it doesn't matter. But he also has a good heart within, unable to stand by when there are people suffering in front of him.

Though he also harbored some secrets from those he cares about; like not revealing that he was being a vigilante in order to exact justice upon the corrupt Council man, Ragou, and the just as corrupt Imperial Knight with a nobility status, Cumore until much later.

And yet there is one thing that makes him different from everyone else in the world of Terca Lumireis. Something that not even Yuri knows. And, at the time, no one would know what it is.

Until... Until IT happened.

And that discovery will turn his life – and many others – upside down…in more ways than one…

_**~o~**_

Everyone is fine where they were; Rita is trying to find a way to seal away Estelle's power for the time being; Karol is helping some of the people from the Lower Quarter with some of their torn stuff; Judy is, well, brooding – he could never figure out what goes on in that woman's mind; the Old Man is taking a nap in the jail cell, pretty much where they first met; and Repede is just lying down in the room where they'll be resting for a time. As for Flynn, the last he saw his blonde friend he is in his room along with his _charming_ lieutenant, after the latter had informed the former that he had been promoted to Commandant.

He felt that all of them are nervous; even himself, considering that they had to confront Alexei tomorrow at Zaude. And he was too restless to try to fall asleep now. And when he is restless, his mind tends to wonder. Thinking of things that would usually make his head hurt…or unsettle him some more.

Such as… What would they do once they kicked Alexei's ass? They still needed to keep Phaeroh's promise to make sure Estelle's power doesn't go out of whack. They also needed to right some wrongs caused by the man, and Leviathan's Claw. Not to mention that they needed to dispose the Hermes Blastia before things get more out of hand…

And then what?

That was the question that plagued him. So far, that one thing unnerved him the most. But why?

Ugh, damn. If he continues to think like this, he won't get any sleep at all.

He needed some air.

Of course, he couldn't leave the castle. Not through the front doors. Nor through the window; he didn't want the knights to peg him for any _more_ 'crimes' he could commit. Personally though, he had a feeling that the Imperial Knights just hated his guts.

Oh well. He's used to being hated. Besides, what reason do they – and the Nobles – give him for him to the _nice_ to them?

He found a window after a few minutes of wondering around. The window sill is large enough for him to sit on. As he let his legs dangle, he considered leaning against the sill, like he would usually do, but… lately his back felt…funny. Whenever he tried to lean against the wall with his back, or simply lie down, he felt a spike of pain.

So, for now, he settled for just leaning against the window sill on his side. It was so damn weird, he thought. He never had a problem like this while growing up, so… why now? It only started to occur sometime after they arrived in Yormgen – well, the illusion town of it that is. After that, he felt some strange pangs of pain from his back; especially around aer. What the hell is up with that?

Ugh. What else could crap on his day?

He grimaced. Crap. He spoke too soon; he felt a pang on his back again. Well, not exactly a 'pang' or a twinge, or a stab; no it was kinda… prickly – that was the best he could describe it. A sort of sensation like… like being poked with something dull; dull enough to irritate it but not enough to hurt. Like before, he tried to ignore it.

He grunted when the prickling insisted on being an annoyance. Subconsciously, he brought his hand down the back of his shirt and slightly rubbed the spot with his fingers. When he first scratched it, it only made it feel… funny. And that prickle-like sensation is _always_ where his hands couldn't reach.

The dark haired male just grunted, giving up trying to reach the spot and slouched a little. Defiantly not cool.

…Huh?

He looked down at his Blastia, as if it was the oddest thing in the world.

…Why is the skin under it… itchy?

…Great, first his back, and now this? He thought as he carefully took the Blastia off. Sure it seemed weird to take it off like that but-

Huh? The male looked over his left wrist in confusion. That's odd. His skin feels fine now… But just to be sure, he decided to scratch it a little. Nothing. No strange feeling at all.

"Huh…" He grunted, then looked out the window, onto the star filled sky. Ironic that the full moon is out – the words 'full moon' just brings a bad taste in his mouth – considering what will happen the following day. His eyes lingered on the barrier rings over Zaphias, and he sighed a little.

Who would've thought that all of this wouldn't have occurred, if the Aque Blastia Core hadn't been stolen? If it hadn't, he wouldn't have left the barrier, gone on an adventure much like Flynn in a way; and he wouldn't have known of a terrible plot made by Alexei in his mad desire to control the world. He wouldn't have known about the Aer Krene, the Hermes Blastia, the Entelexia, Apatheia, the Children of the Full Moon, and, most importantly, the Adephagoes.

…And he wouldn't have met all of these…'interesting' people in his travels… Some of those who he had gotten close to: Karol, Rita (to an extent), Raven (also to an extent), Judy…

Especially Estelle.

He had become proud of the girl during their adventure; she had grown from a naïve, indecisive girl – who was sheltered for most of her life – to a strong, confident young woman – yet she's still a bit naïve. But… in a way, he felt…sad. Like a parent who is proud of their child as they grow up, yet, is saddened when the time had come for said child to become independent.

For some reason though, he felt that he had to protect her. To look out for her. After he met her… that's what he basically did. Always lending a listening ear when she wanted to talk about something; nudged her into making her own choices… even going so far as to save her from Alexei – and, to an extent, from herself.

Now they got to go and stop Alexei from whatever the hell he's going to do at Zaude. But, when that place came to mind, he felt this… unease within his heart. What the hell is it about that place that made this... strange knot-like feeling in his chest? As if there's something at that place that gave him the creeps…

Or is it just him?

He sighed through his nose. Oh well, no point in worrying about that now. He better get some sleep himself. As he got off of the window sill, he idly thought that his thoughts earlier did took them off of-

"Huh-?" He let out when he suddenly felt… blank. His legs started to feel like jelly, making him stop in his tracks. Just as suddenly it appeared, it was gone, making him blink in surprise. "…The hell?" He let out as he placed his hand on his head. That was odd; for a moment, he just-

"AGH-!" Was all he could make, his breath hitched in his throat as he closed his eyes.

What the-? Why was he burning up! When did it get so hot? ? He knew he was breathing, but – to his horror – he couldn't feel any cool air enter his lungs. He clawed at his throat, trying to find a reason why he isn't breathing- _why isn't he breathing_? He felt as if something is… suffocating him; this strange warmth is- oh god, is it _spreading_? Is it a curse? A disease? A spell? He cracked an eye open as he struggled to move his head upwards-

His heart nearly stopped beating. _'What…?'_

Wh- the hell- _what the hell is going on_? ?

_Why couldn't he __**see**__? ? _

The similar fear he had experienced back then clutched its cold hand around his heart at this horrifying turn of events. He rubbed his eyes violently, blinking to see if his vision is cleared, and when it didn't, repeated the process. What the hell is going on? ! Why couldn't he see? ?

His eyes were open, he could feel it, but… but all he saw is this strange blur- this blur is making everything hard to distinguish, like he had water in his eyes or something! Even the colors themselves have blurred!

The strange warmth didn't help matters – and his body continued to be on fire- no, it felt like his very blood is _acid_! It hurts- why did it hurt- why couldn't he-?

In all but a minute, before fear and panic took control of his very being, it just suddenly…stopped. The warmth disappeared. And he couldn't help but blink in bewilderment when his sight just…cleared. All of a sudden, he had his vision back! …But he couldn't help but notice how…sharper everything is; cleaner, more defined looking even. He looked over his hands, his eyes wide in shock, and feeling completely stunned at what just happened…to be honest, though, he wasn't quite sure what _had_ just happened. But, right now, it didn't matter; he could see…

He allowed himself a moment to relax, slowly brining his hand up and placed it on his forehead, shaking his head. What in the hell had that all been about-?

And he cried out when he felt a sharp _pain_ coming from his back.

_**~o~**_

Flynn – even though he was appointed as the new Commandant – was confused. He had checked the rooms where Yuri's companions are – along with where Lady Estellise is – yet he hadn't been able to locate his dark haired male friend. None of them, not even Repede, had seen him since he had checked up on them some time ago. Though he couldn't help but be unsettled when he had found the katana Yuri had with him in the room all of them will be staying in for the night, leaning against the table in the room.

He looked around in the empty hall of the castle, devoid of any knights – which he shouldn't be concerned about. He did dismiss the knights to turn in for the night, assuring them that nothing would happen to any one of them – yet there isn't a sign of his dark haired friend. "Where could he have gone?" He asked himself.

The blonde knight turned his attention to the small box in his hands. To others, it didn't seem special; just an ordinary wooden box. However, the box is very special, for it was a gift from Yuri four years ago when the said male left the knights; well, not so much as a gift, but it was…'borrowed' in Yuri's term. He lent Flynn the box, saying it was a 'good luck charm' and asked him to keep it safe; though, it took Flynn a while to convince Yuri that. The blonde just can't take the box – after all, it was a memento of Yuri's mother. So, Flynn promised to return the box one day when they meet again.

He just happened to find it on accident when he was going through his things in his room – he hadn't been in there for quite a while – and found it in the chest sitting at the foot of his bed. Sodia was with him at the time (and helping him with some of the mess that was in his room) when he found it. It took him opening the box to remember his promise. He asked Sodia to also turn in for the night, assuring her that he will be alright and go to bed later.

So here he is, standing in the hall on the second floor – where his and Lady Estellise's rooms are – still looking around for the familiar dark violet hair that was his friend. However, he calmed himself; panicking – even at the slightest – is not a good thing. Panic always derails the mind, scatters thoughts and makes the person think irrational thoughts.

The castle has five floors (not counting the jail at the basement), so… Yuri must be at one of the higher floors. Nodding to himself at the logic, he proceeded to the where the stairs that lead to the upper floors are. As he got near the third floor, though, a cry made him stop in his tracks.

A cry of what sounds like pain.

He felt the blood drain from his face, his heart nearly stopped beating – he recognized that voice! "Yuri!" He shouted as he ran as fast as his legs could manage, to reach his friend. As he did, panic – the one that he tried to shove down earlier – was full blown, and made his thoughts go wild. Did something happen to Yuri? Was he attacked by those assassins? Oh damn, why did he dismiss the knights at a time like this? He honestly didn't expect anything to happen-

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he found his friend, on the floor in one of the third floor halls, panting, curled up in a fetal position, holding himself; it was as if he couldn't get enough oxygen in his lungs. The Bodhi Blastia he had on his wrist is lying by him, abandoned. The blonde blinked in shock at this. What in the hell happened?

Flynn pushed the thoughts away as he ran over to his friend, putting the box down as he kneeled over his friend. "Yuri! Yuri what's wrong? ?" He exclaimed, at a loss of what is happening to his friend. It didn't seem the man heard him. "Yuri-!" He placed his hand over the dark haired male's upper-back-

A cry of agony from his friend made the blonde drew his hand back in shock. Flynn could only watch in horror at his friend, writhing on the floor and panting in quick gasps, as if he wasn't able to get any air in his lungs.

To the blonde, the sight of his friend – the tougher, impenetrable of the two – like this is more horrifying than anything else in his life. He didn't know what was happening to him; and he felt so useless that he was unable to help him.

But when Yuri stopped writhing, Flynn somehow managed to make his body move. He gripped the other male by the arms – not daring to touch anywhere near the back – and pulled him up so that he was on his knees. The dark haired male's head was bowed down, but that was fine – he didn't think he could find it in him to see what sort of state his friend was in. He quickly removed the belt that was around the male's waist – though Yuri's squirming didn't help much – and took off the vest and shirt. For some reason, Flynn felt that the cause of Yuri's discomfort is his back.

When the clothing is on the ground, the dark haired male fell forward and he caught himself, putting his weight onto his forearms – Flynn scooted up a bit to make room for his friend. Yuri's body shuddered as he took in deep breathes, his head cradled in his arms. After a few moments, Yuri slowly started to push himself up.

"Yuri, wait! You shouldn't move around right now!" Flynn exclaimed, worried about – and scared for – his friend. "J-Just lie down on your back; I'll go get a healer and-"

"Fly-" Yuri started weakly-

Then his breath hitched in his throat and he clenched his hands again, as if fighting against…something. But…what exactly, is the question. Flynn opened his mouth once more-

Before a scream of pure, horrible _agony_ erupted from Yuri's mouth, gripping his back by his shoulder. That sound is the most horrifying one to ever reach the blonde's ears in his life.

"Yuri- Yuri what wrong? ?" He questioned as he reached out to grab his friend by the arms-

When his eyes caught something; specifically, between his shoulder blades and spine. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him…

…Yet the longer Flynn stared – feeling new levels of horror in his life than anything else – his eyes widened in shock when he saw that there's… something _under_ the skin on Yuri's back; and it looked like something was trying to poke its way from there, like a sharp object pushing against a fabric. To the blonde, seeing _that_ is a lot more unnerving than his friend screaming in pure agony-

Suddenly remembering his friend – and cursing himself for getting distracted – the blonde was at a loss of how he could help Yuri. He didn't know what to do without hurting the dark haired male…but what? Then, he did the only thing he could do for his friend. He reached out and held the dark haired man close.

He gritted his teeth, trying to keep his hold on Yuri tight as the latter writhed in the former's arms. Flynn, quickly realizing where his arms are, shifted them so that his hand was behind his friend's head and the other on his lower back; yet kept them around his friend's arms so that he wouldn't try to fight. "Yuri, calm down!" He said sternly yet softly. "It'll be alright! Just…calm _down!_"

Yuri stopped squirming – as if on command – yet his whimper is muffled due to his face nearly buried onto his shoulder. Flynn was suddenly glad that he took off most of his armor. He ignored the suspicious wet stain on his shoulder and just held the dark haired male close in an effort to calm him. Suddenly, Yuri let out a strange sound in a mixture of a gasp/choked scream and Flynn tried to look down at his friend to try to see what was wrong-

And the something under the skin on Yuri's back burst forth. Blood scattered to the floor, becoming small flecks further away from them. Some of them found their way on Flynn's face. Yet he hardly paid attention to it. Hardly paid attention to his friend when his whole body twitched and he didn't make a sound except for the sound of him taking in deep, shaky breathes.

Because, honestly, how could he when he just saw what was out of his friend's _back._ "Oh my god…" He breathed out, not sure what to feel.

From Yuri's back… what in the name of the lord are they? They were shaped… kinda like a butterfly's wings, yet kinda isn't at the same time. The upper and lower parts of the 'wings' were… curved somewhat, like a- like a fang. A wolf's fang, perhaps? There are also long tendrils within the…'wings', somewhat giving them a sense of length.

They're also in the color of a bluish-purple color, though leaning more towards blue than purple. And they seemed… translucent, almost. Yet, they're idly flapping a little, twitching a little along the man they were out of-

Wait. Oh CRAP!

Cursing himself for neglecting his friend – again –, the blonde quickly (yet gently) lifted the dark haired male a little to look at his face. "Yuri…are-are you okay…?" He let out, worried about his friend now more than ever.

Especially when he saw Yuri's eyes looking…clouded, and not really looking at anything. And he saw small streaks going down his cheeks, looking suspiciously like tears. The dark haired male was still taking in deep, shaky breathes through his slightly agape mouth.

...And are his eyes playing tricks on him or did Yuri's eyes go...green for a moment? The thought went through his mind before a very faint ring of green appeared around the dark haired man's pupil.

Finally, the dark haired man's grey (now with a ring of green) eyes seemed to look directly into his own blue orbs. "… …Flynn…?" he asked in such a small voice.

The blonde nodded, trying to shake off what he had just witnessed. "Yes Yuri," he said softly, "It's me."

The dark clad man groaned slightly, slowly shutting his eyes. "W-What happened…?" He let out as he palmed his temple.

At that, Flynn isn't sure if he should tell him. Again, honestly, how can he tell his friend that he just… suddenly sprouted wings (literally)? It's not like he can just say 'Oh don't worry Yuri, nothing bad really happened, except that you've just suddenly sprouted what looked like wings,'… yeah, like THAT will work out.

Of course, some things aren't simple. It seemed Yuri suddenly noticed something when he shifted out of focus for a moment. "…?"

Flynn blinked and looked at where his friend is looking at. Their merged shadows. And he could've sworn that his blood had run cold when he noticed a slightly bluish-purple glow at the floor, like a bit of color from a stained glass from sunlight.

His blue eyes went wide and he looked over at his friend – whose eyes had cleared up a little – who stared for a moment. Then his grey eyes started to shift to look behind him.

"Wait Yuri-!" Flynn tried to warn-

But Yuri looked over his shoulder anyway. And Flynn saw his grey eyes widening in shock as his whole body suddenly went still. He wasn't even _breathing_. The dark haired male seemed unable to turn away from the wings that are…from his back. The…spectral appendages just flapped mindlessly, perhaps as an indicator that their owner is still alive.

Everything was silent for a few moments…until Yuri closed his eyes and slumped forward. "Yuri-!" Flynn exclaimed as he caught his friend, who was apparently out of it-

"…!" He let out in shock as the 'wings' suddenly disintegrated in response to Yuri going unconscious; particles of…Aer(?) evaporating in the air. A lone piece of feather from the particles somehow managed to survive and gently floated down to the ground. Flynn held out his hand and let the…feather land onto his palm. Although the blonde was transfixed onto the 'feather', he quickly remembered his friend and looked over the unconscious man's back-

Only to see that the two… openings from the 'wings' have healed over. Completely; except for the blood that is now on Yuri's back. The blonde narrowed his eyes at this. Strange, he thought, something like this had never happened before…

He poked Yuri's back a little. The dark haired male didn't respond. Good. After pocketing the 'feather, the blonde gathered his friend's clothes and Bodhi Blastia and picked him up, somewhat in a bridal style (with Yuri's dark clothes pressed against the raw skin of his sealed wounds – for you can never be _too_ careful); the dark haired male seemed a lot lighter than he looked. The box the Commandant had with him is on Yuri's abdomen.

As Flynn carried his friend towards his room, he looked over his friend, a small frown on his face. _'Yuri…what exactly are you…?'_

At the time, neither of them had an answer…

_**~o~**_

Within his chambers, in the Castle of Vinhiem, Yggdrasill sat upon his throne, feeling his frustration growing. Not that long ago, those infernal Renegades took the Chosen of Sylvarant from the tower! She's now a suitable vessel for Martel, having completed the 'ritual'. With her were two half-elves (siblings by the color of their hair), a ninja from Mizuho – how did she get here? Damn Renegades – and… and that boy, 'Lloyd', the son of that woman from the Angelus Project. He didn't get why Kratos, his most trusted subordinate, hesitated on killing them – Yggdrasill had a feeling why – so he came in to finish the job. Yet the meddling Renegades came in and took them – the vessel as well!

Hmm… it matters little right now. He'll have the vessel returned in due time. For now though…

He gave a new mission for Pronyma: keep an eye on Kratos, in case that he might do something. After what the auburn haired man had down years previously, he doesn't want the man to go AWOL once more-

"Lord Yggdrasill."

The blonde man groaned inwardly. He turned to an angel who had flown in the room, narrowing his eyes in disdain. "What is it?" He asked him, quickly losing patience.

"Forgive me, my lord," the angel bowed, "But our radar has detected an anomaly on one of the neighboring worlds near here."

The Higher Seraphim raised a brow at this. "What sort of 'anomaly' is it?"

"It appears that there is an angel on one of those worlds."

The blonde froze. What? An angel? Impossible! How in Niflheim did-

He rounded on the angel who reported (who seemed to cringe a little). "What world is this angel on?"

"W-We're not sure my lord," the angel stammered, "We're still trying to locate it. It was as if it just… appeared all of a sudden."

Yggdrasill gritted his teeth in anger. "Is that all you came to report to me?"

"Y-Yes my lord."

Shit. The blonde man held in his anger, and spat, "Continue searching. I want that angel found!"

"Understood," the angel quickly bowed and quickly left the throne room.

Once the angel was gone, he blasted one of the pillars to nothing to vent his anger. His other hand was clenched tightly, much like his teeth. An angel. ANOTHER angel – how in the name of Niflheim did this one managed to stay out of their radar? And on one of the neighbor worlds that is around Sylvarant/Tethe'alla in fact.

He knew that he should've used the Eternal Sword to track down the angel faster… However, some of these worlds don't exactly have Mana around them. Begrudgingly, he forced himself to wait. If those angels valued their lives, they better find the angel, and _fast_.

'_This is becoming troublesome…'_ the Seraphim thought scathingly.

He wanted to know who this angel is…and who had made them, and what kind they are.

For, if the angel is half mortal, and half angel...he didn't want any more threats to his plans...

**_~o~_**

_The actions made back then brought forth a new conflict upon the separate worlds, vastly different but also the same..._

_Two souls, bound by fate by the actions of their fathers..._

_Their lives, and those around them, will never be the same..._

_...as the wheels of fate started to turn; in an effort to save their worlds, from the threats looming over their worlds...and their struggle to restore them, begins..._

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**Wanna stop there for a bit. Okay, here's a bit of a lowdown of what happened on both worlds:**

**In Terca Lumireis, this took place after the party saves Estelle but before heading towards Zaude; in Sylvarant/Tethe'alla, this took place after the first visit to the Tower of Salvation. **

**I have to warn you, there will be a lot of changes – some of them for obvious reasons and to add a few…things to the plot. You'll see what they are later on…hopefully.**

**And please let me know if I got their personalities/characters right. If they are (or not), give me a holler.**

**Leave a review if you liked it. If not, then that's fine…**

**(Again, this story had been edited; since, when I look back, I was like "...This doesn't seem right." So I fixed it. I hope you'll continue to enjoy my story!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, a new chapter! …Right, let's get down to business.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

_**Edit: I've fixed the chapter. Enjoy.**_

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The first thing Yuri was aware of, when he came to, was the fact that parts of his body feels…like he had been trampled by a Brute a few times (or maybe shocked by the Giganto Monster numerous times). That and…he couldn't help but notice how…strange everything feels…

He wasn't sure what exactly this strange…thing is, but he tried to get his mind off of it (even though a part of him is telling him that something felt that something…isn't right). Right now, he tried to make some sort of…sense. Such as: What the hell happened earlier? And where the hell is he?

Before he could think of opening his eyes, he used his other senses to try to 'see' where he is. Through his sense of smell, he smelt something…fragrant, like… flowers? The only thing he could think of is the flowers from Halure's tree; they DO have quite a powerful scent. He also picked up a coppery scent of something – something familiar, and his befuddled brain couldn't remember what it is.

Through his sense of hearing, he could hear the sound water dripping into something with more water, along with rattle from…armor, he guessed; yet way does it sound…loud? Well, it isn't loud enough to make his ears bleed, but it did make his ears hurt a little…

Through his sense of taste, he tasted something…bitter. Did someone fed him a gel? …Maybe a…Miracle Gel by the taste of it.

Through his sense of touch, he felt that he was lying on something soft…while lying on his, rather, bare stomach; as evident when he heard armored boots walking up to him and placed something wet upon his back, gently rubbed away at something.

Finally, he decided to use his fifth and final sense: sight. He cracked his eyes open. Everything started off blurry at first. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his vision to clear. Slowly, it did so. Once they did, he groaned.

The wet something stopped rubbing his back when he did. "Yuri, are you okay?"

Huh? Whozzat…? He thought dumbly. After blinking again, he shifted his head a little to try to look at the source.

He saw a familiar blue eyed blonde, clad in blue, his forearms gauntlet-less as his right hand held a wet rag. "…Flynn?" He let out, blinking-

Then he suddenly frowned. He slowly moved to push himself up, nearly failing as his arms felt like jelly (since when did they do that?) and managed to sit up, ignoring Flynn's protests about not sitting up right now. He managed to sit up, his legs crossed yet he didn't dare put his back onto the wall – even though his back felt fine now, he noticed – and looked over his friend. And narrowed his eyes a little. "…Is that blood on your uniform…?"

"…Huh?" His friend let out, confused.

The dark haired male blinked. "Can't you see it?" He asked, look at his friend for a moment before returning his attention to what caught his eye. "It's right there, next to your Bodhi Blastia," he even poked at the spot to confirm what he saw.

Yeah, he could diffidently see it; it nearly blended into the dark fabric of his uniform around his chest but managed to spot the (somewhat faded) blood stain against the dark blue out-line around the circular part on his chest.

Although he himself looked serious, Flynn still looked confused, blinking a little. "There is?" He let out, as he tried to look over the front of his uniform. He even took it off and held up close to his face. And blinked in surprise. "Hey there is…" The blonde looked over his friend a little, blinking a couple of times.

"…What?" The dark haired man let out, suddenly unnerved by his friend's staring.

The Commandant shook his head. "It's nothing." He put his blue/white uniform behind his chair – which seemed unlike him. Flynn always hangs or put up his clothes when he's done with them – and returned his attention to his friend. "Anyway, how are you feeling Yuri?"

Immediately, Yuri sighed. "Like I've just got pummeled by a Giganto Monster…" And it felt like he was; every part of his body felt…sore. He looked over his friend, and asked, "By the way, what happened? Why are we in your room?" He added slowly as he looked around the place.

A small moment of silence settled in. "You don't remember?" Flynn asked slowly.

At that, Yuri was immediately suspicious; but he kept his face straight as he looked back at his friend and asked, "Remember what? What do you mean?"

The blonde seemed to ignore him and rubbed his chin, staring at him with his blue hued gaze. "You honestly don't remember?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew what you were talking about," Yuri retorted dryly, palming his head. Damn…why does his head hurt? Did he get a concussion or something? No…he didn't feel any throbbing around his head – a Miracle Gel would've cured that. Those things are like their namesakes after all – it felt…more like it was a headache or something.

"Yuri-" The dark haired man winced, hearing a slight ringing sound, when his friend spoke up.

He grunted in pain and covered his ears. "Dammit Flynn," he grunted, cracking an eye open to glare at his friend, "did you have to shout like that?"

The blonde blinked. "What do you mean? I was talking normally."

Yuri dropped his hands to stare at his friend, dumbfounded. "What?"

Flynn was about to open again, then paused. He rubbed his chin again for a bit, and:

"Yuri, how's this?"

The dark haired male blinked. "Yeah, that…It didn't hurt my ears as much."

"That was because I was talking as quietly as I could," the blonde answered.

What…

WHAT? ?

Okay, there's _no way_ in hell that's normal. Sure he had seen a lot of things normal people wouldn't, well, normally see. But… super hearing? That ain't right.

Wait…

Now that he thought about it…

"Yuri-?"

The dark haired male shushed his friend and closed his eyes, and just…listened. He could hear the water running at the Lower Quarter, could hear the dogs barking, the gentle hum of the city's Barrier Blastia, the footsteps of other people – probably his friends – walking in the hall, everyone's breathing, their heartbeats...even Flynn's. Yet…he felt this strange…feeling. He wasn't sure what it is, but…he felt something…in the air. He wasn't able to describe it great but…it felt sort of like mist – an invisible mist that licked around him and everyone else. The mist felt – well, not _really_ felt, he couldn't touch it touch it with his fingers – thicker around some things than others…

He opened his grey eyes and looked at Flynn. "Hey…have you always felt like…soup broth?"

Flynn looked at him oddly. "Huh?"

"Seriously, you feel…weird," he let out, not sure how to describe it. "In fact, the whole place feels like soup…except for a hint of what felt like pudding and juice…" He muttered softly to himself, crossing his arms with a thoughtful look.

He didn't notice his friend was giving him a look. "…Soup broth?" The blonde repeated, though keeping his voice low for Yuri's ears.

"Hey, it's the best I could describe it," Yuri retorted, giving his friend a bored look. "Besides it…feels weird."

Flynn didn't say anything but he nodded. A moment of uncomfortable silence went by before the blonde spoke up once more. "Yuri…are you absolutely _sure_ you don't remember? As in…what occurred between our talk and right now?"

Yuri gave his friend a strange look then rubbed his chin. Yeah…he did recall telling Flynn about what Alexei is doing, and was there when his charming lieutenant informed him that he was promoted to Commandant. After that, he checked on his friends. And then… And…then…huh? That's odd, how come he couldn't remember what happened after that? As for that matter, what happened to his shirt? He thought as he looked at his bare chest, his brow raised a smidge. He didn't think he got injured earlier when they followed Estelle and Alexei towards Baction Shrine all the way back to Zaphias…

…And now that he thought more about it, that strange, prickly sensation on his back is gone. Yes, he did notice earlier, but didn't pay any mind to it at first. But now…it didn't hurt; not like someone – or rather some_thing_ – was pushing something in between his shoulder blades. Now it didn't feel like he was…trapped within himself-

…Okay, NOW he was getting off topic. The main topic is his memory.

He shook his head. "No…I can't remember what happened during that time – well, besides checking on my friends that is."

Flynn gave him a look – a type of look he makes when he was thinking about something. Yuri had seen that look many times while growing up, even during the time when they were in Niren's Brigade before they took on that bastard Garista after their captain died – and Yuri could see the gears working in his head through the blonde's eyes. Then he sighed. "Yuri…I'm going to show you something," he said, though he seemed…hesitant when he added, "But…" he shook his head and continued, "Just don't freak out, okay?"

The dark violet haired man blinked. "What do you mean?" He asked as Flynn dug into his pocket. Then the blonde pulled out-

His eyes went wide. "…Flynn…" He lifted a shaky finger as he pointed at what was in his friend's hand. "What…is that?"

'That' just happened to be a small piece of feather, looking a bit translucent, and in the color of bluish-purple, but…leaning more towards blue than purple. But…why is his heart pounding in his chest? Why is his blood running cold? Why couldn't his body stop shaking? What's-?

Everything that happened to him after he talked with his friends up until waking up in Flynn's bed played back in his head. And he watched helplessly as he recalled the momentary blindness, to the uncomfortable warmth that made him paralyzed and forced him to fall to the ground, to the pain of his own blood that seemed to boil within him and hearing the voice of his friend during the whole time…to the point of seeing _wings_ out of his back…

_**~o~**_

To say that Flynn was unnerved when he saw his friend freeze up completely when he saw the feather was an understatement. But that was nothing compared to seeing his friend starting to shake uncontrollably after a moment. "Yuri?" He let out in concern, putting the translucent feather down. "Yuri, what's wrong?" He bit his lower lip; he was starting to think that showing Yuri that feather isn't a good idea after all.

He tried to reach out to his friend again. "Yuri-"

Before his hand could touch Yuri's skin, the dark violet haired male jerked and hurryingly scooted away from the blonde until his back was against the wall. He was panting heavily, his pupils dilated with his arms against the wall, and beads of sweat were on his face as he stared at the feather sitting there. But the blonde saw something else within Yuri's eyes. Something he never thought he would see:

Fear. Denial. And some other emotion he couldn't identify.

But it didn't deter Flynn to try to calm the dark haired man. "Yuri, Yuri, please calm down!" He said as slowly stood up, but not daring to try to touch his friend. Yet.

However, the dark haired man didn't seem to hear the blonde. And it unsettled him. "Yuri, SNAP OUT OF IT!" He shouted and the other man winced before he covered his ears and curling into a ball. Flynn quickly put the feather away – just in case because it seemed to be the cause of his distress – and went back to try to help his friend. "Yuri…" He let out, moving closer to his friend, "Yuri, are you…okay?"

The dark haired male didn't seem to budge. He didn't so much as _flinch_ when the blonde put his hand on his shoulder. And the blonde had to admit, that unsettled him – again. The last time Flynn had seen the dark haired male like this was-

Huh?

The blonde blinked. Is…is he hearing his friend…humming? Yes- it was that song within his mother's memento. The only time he heard the dark haired male hum that was when- was when he was…scared. But that was when they were kids! Did that feather somehow terrified him-?

Flynn wanted to smack himself. No, it wasn't the feather! The wings-!

"Yuri! Yuri, snap out of it!" He exclaimed, shaking the dark haired male lightly at first. Then he shook him again, roughly, when he didn't seem fazed. "Yuri!"

The Commandant gritted his teeth, scowling. Dammit- He hated seeing his friend like this! Yuri- Yuri wasn't supposed to be the vulnerable one here! He wasn't supposed to feel pain; not supposed to get upset over- EVERYTHING! And-

"God-dammit Yuri, STOP IT!"

That managed to jerk the dark haired male out of his stupor, and he stared into the blue eyes of his friend. And for once, Flynn didn't care if he used one of those 'forbidden' curses. He was more concerned about his friend's emotional – and perhaps mental – state.

"…Flynn…?"

"Yuri, you can't just- you're not- Dammit Yuri, I can't stand to see you like this!" Flynn shouted, shaking his friend once more, "It's bad enough after…that incident four years ago!"

Yuri opened his mouth to say something. "But-"

Yet Flynn cut him off, continuing with, "I know it was bad back then…it's just…" He sighed. "I'm just as shocked as you were when those…popped out," he didn't say 'wings', that'll probably make Yuri feel worse, "and…well, yes, it was a little bizarre, but-"

He shook his head and released his friend. "What I'm trying to say is that…" He trailed off, not sure how to continue this.

"What?" The blonde couldn't help but wince at Yuri's flat response.

Flynn looked over his friend – ignoring the glazed look in his eyes – then sighed. "…The point is, I was a bit weirded out by…what you could possibly be – but you're still my friend, regardless of…what you might be."

Yuri just stared at him.

"…Okay fine, so it was corny," Flynn admitted, making a bored look, "But what do you WANT me to say?"

Yuri shrugged. "Who knows?"

Flynn smiled softly and shook his head. At least Yuri's old self is back…a little bit of it anyway.

But on to the more _pressing _matters. "By the way Yuri…how long has…that been going on?" Flynn didn't elaborate on what 'that' is.

Yuri actually had to scratch his head as he thought about it. "I dunno…I guess it all started when we first visited Yormgen…sometime before you caught me in the act."

Flynn narrowed his eyes a little. So this was before Yuri killed Cumore? However:

"Then how come you didn't tell anyone else – especially your friends – about that?"

"Hey, I honestly thought that the weird…pressure on my back would go away after a while," Yuri retorted, "That and a lot of crap happened – which, I'm sure you know."

Flynn looked at his friend with a bit of a scowl. Wait, pressure? "You mean it only started off as a sort of…pressure?" The blonde blinked.

"Sort of," the dark haired man replied, "It was kinda…like someone was pressing something _in_ my back; along with a weird…prickly sensation."

The Commandant sighed. Leave it to Yuri to hide things from his friends – especially ones that involve his body. Honestly, there are times where the blonde could be frustrated with his friend; always the one to worry about others, and not himself – of course, the blonde is the same in a way. But, still…

"You could have at least _told_ someone about it," he said, frowning a little, "Instead of just…suffering alone."

Yuri adverted his gaze away from his friend. "…It's surprising you know," he said, making a bitter chuckle, "that the Commandant himself is still socializing with a _freak_."

Flynn recoiled at the word. "You're not a freak-"

"Of course I am!" Yuri nearly shouted, "Just…" he let out a frustrated sigh, "Before all of this, I've thought that I was a human. But now…the wings, the super hearing and sight, along with this weird…mist-y feeling in the air… What the hell am I then…?"

Silence flit by them, neither of them saying a thing for a few moments. Until:

"Well… I do know what you are." When Yuri looked back at him, Flynn said, "You're still my friend Yuri. Even if you just suddenly sprouted wings, you're still my childhood friend; and you're still Yuri Lowell. What you are doesn't make you _who_ are you are."

After a moment, Yuri let out scoff, as if he found it funny. "What is it with you making corny speeches today?"

"Well, at least you still have your sense of humor," Flynn smiled a little, not at all perturbed by the statement. Then he looked at his friend, "But I'm serious about what I said. Even if there's something that all of us didn't know about, even if your body, well, changed, you're still the Yuri I know. And…please, don't forget that."

It was another moment of silence as the two childhood friends stared at each other. Then, Yuri chuckled a little before he smiled softly – a genuine one that he makes for those he trusts and cares about. "Sure, whatever you say Commandant."

At the title, the blonde blushed. "Yuri, please don't call me that. It's…still hard to get used to."

"What, you mean that you're already used to being called 'Captain'?"

"That's not the point."

"So?"

Flynn made an annoyed sound at the back of his throat, closing his eyes so he won't see Yuri's smirk. Then a question popped into his head. "By the way…" He began as he opened his eyes once more, "Are you…able to bring them out?" At Yuri's blink, he clarified, "The wings?"

Then the dark haired male blinked again before he looked over his shoulder. "Uh…I dunno. This is a first for me."

The blonde rubbed his chin a little. "Well…after you passed out, they disintegrated. Maybe they respond to your body in a way?" He guessed.

"Hell if I know," Yuri said, "I'm just glad that I didn't make a scene where I was at. That would've been much, much worse."

Well…yeah that much is true. It would've been a truly awkward scene if there were any witnesses; not to mention disastrous. But still…

A rather strange idea went into his head. "Well…call this crazy, but try to bring them out."

"How?"

"Um…I don't know…maybe, think about it?"

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Alright." He scooted up a bit so that he could make some room.

A few moments went by after Yuri closed his eyes. At first nothing happened. He opened one of his grey orbs to look at his friend. "Are they out?"

"No. Try to concentrate."

Yuri once again closed his eyes. Not even a moment went by before he suddenly let out a sigh of content before – as bluish-purple feathers appeared from his back – the bluish-purple wings appeared from his back – stretching out a bit as he did with his arms. The blonde couldn't help but be in awe of the lustrous and magnificent appendages.

The dark haired man opened his eyes and noticed the look the blonde was making. He looked over his shoulder to see the wings flapping idly behind him. "Hey, what do you know? It worked," he noted, with the same expression in tone that he used when he found out that his bounty was raised to ten thousand gald.

For some odd reason, seeing the wings gently flapping behind his friend, Flynn had a sudden urge to…

"…Uh…why are you poking them?" He heard Yuri ask, as the blonde is, indeed, poking the wings. To his surprise, they were…solid. His eyes widened in wonder, running his fingers against them, feeling the small feathers.

'_How in the world can they be solid?'_ He thought, looking over the wings, _'They seemed to be made out of Aer.'_ Somehow, though, Flynn had a feeling that they're made of…something else. What exactly is it, he isn't sure. But maybe he could-

"Whoa!" He let out when the wings suddenly disappeared. And from the grin that Yuri had on his face, the blond had a feeling that the dark haired man had done that on purpose.

"What do you know," he said, "I guess you can put those away the same way you pull them out."

Flynn made a mock glare at his friend. "Very funny," he said dryly. Then he noticed a particular look his friend had made. Flynn immediately frowned.

"No."

"Wha-?"

"No Yuri, you can't try to fly," Flynn said, "And knowing you, you would use those to terrorize the knights."

"What me?" He asked in mock surprised, "Why in the world would I want to do that?" Flynn made a look telling his friend that he's not fooled. "...Okay _fine_, killjoy. But I _will_ use it to scare the crap out of Leblanc and his cronies."

Flynn shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, it's your choice to hang out with me," Yuri shrugged.

Flynn sighed.

_**~o~**_

"NO-!" Was all Yuan could manage – as he ran in with his subordinates – before the group escaped on the Rheairds. He bit back a curse. Dammit! He nearly had Lloyd in his clutches.

But…that's fine. From what he figured, they're probably heading for Tethe'alla to help the now unresponsive blonde chosen.

Though, honestly, the blue-haired half-elf didn't think that they would be able to help her – now that she's in the self-preservation state. He was surprised that she didn't attack the others when they were near her.

As he made his way back to his office, he couldn't help but grit his teeth in a grimace, putting his hand over his injury. Damn, Kratos really got him good that time; it didn't help when Lloyd hit him at the same spot, as well. It was a last ditch effort to kill his friend so that he could unseal Origin – if that boy hadn't warned him-

He shook his head. That was in the past right now. All he could do is focus on the present…

Once he was in the comfort of his own office, he sat in his chair with a sigh. He found his green eyes over at the small photo frame lying face down on the desk. After staring at it a moment longer, he hesitantly reached out to it then gently picked it up. When he saw the picture, he frowned, this time in sadness.

He sighed. _'I'm sorry Sophia…'_ He thought, placing the photo down in the same position it was, _'It's simply better that...that he shouldn't get involved...'_

The ancient warrior covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes. How long has it been? 15 years? It…honestly didn't like it. On the other hand, maybe that's what happens when you lived for 4000 years… Lives and time just come and go, and Yuan barely realizes it. Or notice it.

But at the moment, he doesn't care. He had to focus on the now instead of the past.

They had failed to stop the Chosen of Sylvarant from completing the Regeneration Ritual at that infernal tower. He knew that it's completely useless to try to kill her in that state – it might be possible that the girl would be as strong as he. The soldiers would be completely wiped out before they could touch her… Again, it would be foolish to try to cure her-

Wait.

The blue haired half-elf raised his head from his hands. They had stolen the Rheairds…

Then…Then that means… Yes! He knew how to get Lloyd now!

Yuan stood up from his desk and headed to the communications room.

Yes, yes! _He_ would be able to help them with their cause! He thought as he grinned a little.

…Yet, why couldn't he push back the unease that was building inside of him?

* * *

**Hm…this seems rather short; or rather, it FELT short...but… I think it'll do.**

**Yeah, I'm trying to focus around different point of views to see how it'll go. I think I've got it down so far.**

**There are many questions left unanswered: How did Yuri get his wings? Who is Sophia, and what is Yuan's connection to her? I'd love to answer those, but where's the fun if I just spilled the beans?**

**Again, please tell me if I got their characters right, especially Yuan's. I have to warn you, it's been a while since I've played Tales of Symphonia, so my memory might've been a bit…sketchy.**

**Um…review?**


	3. Chapter 3

…I'm on a roll with this thing. Right, here's the new chapter.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, then Kratos should've stayed with his kid and, oh I don't know, HUG HIM!**

_**(Edit: The chapter's fixed up.)**_

* * *

_All he could see around him is darkness. Deep, un-impetrating darkness; he wasn't able to see three inches in front of him. _

_There was a presence somewhere in the darkness. He couldn't exactly see it, nor feel it, but he knew it's there. For some reason, this presence…unsettled him. He didn't know why though._

_Suddenly, he felt something behind him. He turned swiftly on his heel-_

_And he could only let out a gasp of shock as he saw some…undistinguishable _thing_ before him. He couldn't tell what it is, though he could barely see its outline in its red aura. He took a step back, then another but he suddenly felt something around his neck. He instinctively tried to pry it off but – to his horror – his feet soon found themselves on nothing, and his legs dangled. He squirmed, kicking his legs as he tried to get himself free from…whatever it is that's got a grip on him._

_He soon turned his dark eyes onto the thing that held him, staring into what he assumed to be its eyes. Despite the grip the…thing had on him – more so when it decided to tighten its grip – he glared back at it in defiance._

_Then, it said:_

"You shouldn't have been born."

_Before he felt something sharp go through his chest-_

Yuri gasped out as he shot up from his bed, panting to calm his beating heart as he patted around for the wound. Finding none, he sighed, then flopped back onto the mattress. "Great, now weird ass dreams…?" He muttered, closing his eyes.

To be honest, this isn't the first time where he had a…strange – that's the best he could describe it – dream. Growing up, he often had dreams where he felt a…presence. Most of the time, it was a warm, familiar presence; other times, it was another, unfamiliar one, yet, somehow it was still…warm.

And yet…somehow this presence is…different; not like the other two where they were warm and…made him feel…safe. This one, however, is dark, malicious even; as if it wanted to kill him. Sure there are other things that tried to kill him – Alexei's Royal Guard, the Hunting Blades (on occasion), Leviathan's Claw, and the occasional monster that invest the world. But…for some reason he's getting a feeling that this…thing is not from Terca Lumireis. And that unnerved him.

Speaking of other things that unnerved him… he thought as he opened his grey orbs and looked around him. Karol was dead to the world, his limbs sprawled out as he lightly snored – he could even see a bit of drool coming out of his mouth (despite the fact that his sight is better than anyone else's). Rita is on her side, her book clutched in her arms and she muttered some things in her sleep – and he didn't want to be around when she started to cast her spells in her sleep on accident (again). Judy looked calm even in her sleep – and he randomly wondered if her antennae would feel sore after sleeping on them – and was pretty started to see her violet-blue hair down instead of its usual bun. Finally, he looked down at his feet to see Repede with his legs sticking up in the air, his tongue out – and on occasion, the warrior dog's leg would kick, and he would make a content whine; it seemed he was having a good dream (not like he can try to ask the dog himself).

He smiled a little at the others sleeping and looked up at the window. From what he could see, the sky started to light up, signaling the coming dawn.

…In a matter of a few hours, they'll head to Zaude and confront the ex-Commandant. Once more, anxiety took hold of him. And questions like 'what if they failed to stop Alexei?' and 'What exactly is Zaude?' There are a lot of question he had, yet he had so little answers.

Well, right now, who cares? They'll just go there, kick his ass and stop whatever the hell he was going to do. And if something is going to stop them, there's going to be hell to pay-

He flinched when he realized he had thought about 'them'.

Meaning Estelle.

Sure he wanted the whole group there…but, to be honest, he didn't want Estelle to go with them. The girl had gone through enough horrors with Alexei – he isn't sure if her going with them would make her feel worse. The bastard did make her use her Child of the Full Moon powers to blast them away and made her fight against them – he was just lucky that he still had Estelle's memento of her mother to help her regain her senses. But, still…it was hard on all of them. They all don't want to hurt her…and he – really – didn't want to end her life. He knew he was facing that worst case scenario on their way back to Zaphias…but, to be honest, he never wanted to kill her – no matter how much she begged.

He never, _never_, wanted to do harm on his friends. He'd rather cut his arms a thousand times than to do that.

But…there are some things that he wanted to keep a secret from them. The group finding out what he had done to Ragou and Cumore is one thing, but…what happened last night…

He sighed, closing his eyes as he recalled the conversation he had with Flynn before he headed to bed…

"_What?"_ _The blonde exclaimed as the dark haired male but his shirt on. "You wanted to keep this a secret?"_

"_Well yeah," Yuri replied, focusing on dressing himself, "This is kind of personal Flynn. I don't want to add any more crap on our plate."_

"_Yuri, your friends have the right to know about what is going on with you," the Commandant said, as Yuri adjusted the sleeves of his shirt – the dark haired man decided to leave the vest off for now._

"_Uh, you _did_ say that you were weirded out by the appearance of the wings," Yuri reminded him, feeling the somewhat wet (and sticky) stain on the back – Flynn told him that it was his blood that was on there – and continued with, "How exactly do you think they'll react when they see them?" He shuddered as he thought about what Rita might do when she sees them. No doubt that she'll demand to test them or something._

"_Hm…that _is_ true…" The blonde trailed off. "But…you do realize that they'll find out eventually."_

_At that, the dark haired man paused. "…Yeah, I guess you're right," he admitted. "But, here's the deal: Don't tell anyone about this, alright? I'll…" he sighed, "I'll tell them when…when I'm ready."_

_He didn't have to see the blonde to know that he nodded. "Alright," he said, "Preferably after the whole mess with Alexei is over."_

_Yuri paused by the door before muttering "Yeah," before he left…_

Once he was out of his memories, he sighed then looked around at his friends once more – well, those that are around them; Estelle probably went to sleep in her room (since it's literally been a while since she was last there) while the Old Man is snoozing away in the jail. And, for some reason, he felt…self-conscious. What would his friends think of him when they see the wings? Would they still accept him? Reject him? He felt this odd fear in his chest at the thought of rejection-

He shook his head. Dammit, it's not the time to think about random thoughts! Just…think about something else for a change like-

The growl of his stomach seemed louder thanks to his…super ears.

But he was thankful for the distraction. And, hey, it's still early – maybe he could train a little before they head off to Zaude.

With that in mind, he pulled on his vest, belt and boots – his eyes lingered onto the Bodhi Blastia before he took it with a bit of hesitance along with his katana (and Dein Nomos) – and silently left the room. Well, as silently as he could, Repede would hear him still. But luck was on his side when the dog decided to stay asleep.

As he walked towards the cafeteria – the hallway devoid of knights at the moment – he felt an itch on his back; no, _in_ his back. He grimaced. Aw crap, now the _wings_ are making his back feel funny. He looked around to see if there's anyone around – once he's sure he's alone, he closed his eyes, concentrating on making them appear. He let out a sigh of relief as they just…slid out gently; not bursting from his back painfully. He didn't know why but…somehow it felt wrong to keep them confined. As weird as it sounds, it somehow…he didn't know, but he knew it felt wrong. He was fortunate that his clothes weren't on when they appeared – he didn't think he could explain the two large holes on the back of his shirt and vest.

Wait…

Momentarily forgetting about breakfast at the moment, he looked over at the bluish-purple wings as they just…flapped behind him. He wondered…could he…fly?

"Only one way to find out," he muttered, instinctively withdrawing the wings – just in case if there's anyone coming down the hall – as he made his way down the hall towards the training grounds.

When he got there, the place is deserted. Good. He immediately called the wings back out and looked back at them. Okay…how could he try to fly? It's not really every day that someone else suddenly sprouted wings and teach newbies to fly. The only ones that could are birds, bird monsters – except for the Axe Beak family – and a couple of Entelexia.

…Well, he might as well improvise – he did the same thing with how he fights and with Tiger Blade and Dragon Swarm.

Besides, how hard could it be?

A few minutes later, he is eating those words when he tried – for what felt like the fiftieth time – to try to stay afloat. Well, more like flapping his wings madly and gaining no success. He panted heavily over the effort of doing so, sweat running down his face. Above him, he could _swear_ the crows are mocking him, cawing away like they were laughing. He glared death at the black, dirty feathered birds.

"Shut the hell up!" He ordered them, realizing how ridiculous it sounds. Yuri tried to ignore them by turning around and flapped the wings madly again. He was up by a few inches-

Until his strength gave out and, landing wrong on his feet, he fell flat on his face. Growling, he pushed himself up from the ground, muttering profanities (the kind where Estelle would force the male to sleep in the dirt if she ever caught him saying them) under his breath, when he suddenly noticed that a couple of crows have landed before him. He looked at them dryly. "…Came down here to insult me personally, huh?"

The birds seemed to ignore him as the one in front of him started to…move its wings around. Yuri just watched the bird as it does the strange motion with a raised brow. With his enhanced hearing, he could hear the feathers push against the wind…the said wing blowing a bit from the motion of being pushed against…

Wait. Is...the crow showing him how it's done? As strange as the thought, he couldn't help but watch as the other crow demonstrated by doing the same motion as the first crow, managing to lift off the ground and flew towards the roof. It hopped in place to look back down at him with its beady black eyes before cawing at him. He looked back down at the first one to see it do the same as the second one and flew up next to it and turned to look back down at him.

The dark haired man seemed to have got the message as he slowly stood up and looked back at the wings. He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly through the mouth. He did the same as the crows – drawing in more air this time – and managed to get a couple of feet off the ground. His grey eyes widened in awe for a bit before he looked up at the roof where the other two crows were at. He set his mouth into a determined flat line before he leaned forward-

"Whoa!" He let out when he found himself rolling in the air. The swordsman gritted his teeth when he heard the crows – seemingly – laugh at him again. He jerked forward as he tried to straighten himself, nearly losing some altitude in the process.

Once he had regained balance he took in a breath again. _'Okay, okay…'_ He mentally muttered before he decided to try again – only this time, by leaning a _little_. Yuri had gotten himself into the direction he want – grinning fiercely at the achievement – and slowly flew to where the crows are. Once his feet set foot onto the roof, he looked down at the two birds next to him, feeling somewhat winded. For some reason, he had a feeling that they were smirking in satisfaction. "…You guys are smarter than you look," he muttered, dumbfounded and held a new respect – somewhat – for these feathered creatures.

The crows just cawed and they flew off. He sighed a little and looked back at the wings. Well, so far so good…

Now here comes the hard part.

A few more minutes later, he thought that his grin might've split his face in half. "Woo-hoo!" He hooted, feeling the wind against his face, feeling absolutely giddy, above Zaphias's castle. He laughed wildly as he flew up higher, pass the symbol above the 'sword's' point, and flew around it once. Man, this is awesome! More awesome than- well, he isn't sure what's more awesome, but still! This felt ten times better than any battle he had gone through! Such adrenaline! He never felt this sort of rush in all of his life! He flew near the clouds and reached out to touch them. They slid through his fingers, and he could feel the moist trapped within them. Damn! He didn't have the pleasure to do _this_ when they were riding on Ba'ul!

Flying near the castle, he quickly noticed Tweedle A and Tweedle B walking down the hall from the window. Smiling evilly, he floated near the other window and knocked on it just as they were in front of it, standing on the sill and withdrew his wings. They barely glanced at the window before doing a double take and stared at him, their eyes wide in shock. Tweedle A's visor comically fell over his face. He just smirked, waved at them, and fell back. He quickly pulled out his wings and flew out of sight, just as he heard them open the window to look out and try to look for him.

"I say! Did you see that? ?" That was Tweedle A.

"I-I did! But how is it possible for Yuri Lowell to be out here? ?" And there's Tweedle B.

He chuckled wildly to himself. "Morons," he muttered before he went back to his flying spree.

Oh man, this is such an exhilarating feeling! He never had such greater freedom like this! The wind in his hair…the feel of the clouds on his body…this felt a lot better than riding on Ba'ul (no offense to the giant, whale-like Entelexia). Somehow…a part of him felt…complete. Feeling absolutely alive! This is-!

"YURI!"

He flinched, nearly falling from the sky when he heard the voice. But his blood couldn't help but run cold when he recognized it.

It was Estelle.

"YURI! WHERE ARE YOU? ?"

Oh crap! She's looking for him! He can't let her see the wings! Or anyone else! He looked around quickly and spotted the training ground. He flew over to it quickly and landed on the ground, and made the wings vanish. He spotted his katana and quickly ran over to it, grabbing it and put his hand over the hilt.

Just in time to hear heels clacking against marble-

And the pink haired princess came in from around the corner. "Oh, there are you Yuri," she said, looking relieved – and Repede just walked around the corner, calmly. "I was looking for you," she added as she and Repede went over to the dark haired male.

"Really." Already, he put on his usual façade; he can't let the princess know what's wrong.

"Yes," she nodded, "I heard from Adecor and Boccos that they've saw you outside. But…how did you…?" She tilted her head, as if she couldn't comprehend the strangeness of it.

"Who knows," he said, putting on his usual grins. "I think those two are finally going senile like the Old Man."

"Yuri…" The princess lightly scolded him.

He shrugged. "Not my fault if their eyes are going."

Estelle shook her head a little, a small smile on her face. "We should go and meet the others," she said, "They should be awake by now, and hungry," she added, her smile widening.

Yuri couldn't help but smile back. _'It was as if what happened with Alexei didn't occur at all…'_

"Alright, alright, we better go and meet with the others," the dark haired male said, "Knowing Rita, she'll probably try to blast me six ways to next week for being late."

"…Can she do that?"

He sighed. "Not really." Even after all this time, she still couldn't understand them.

The way she tilted her head in confusion didn't help much. He lightly shook his head. "Never mind, let's go."

As the three of them walked down the halls, he felt Estelle look up at him with her green eyes. "Yuri, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"…How come you're not wearing your Bodhi Blastia?" He nearly stopped when she asked that question.

Oh crap, he forgot to put it on, didn't he? He didn't let the panic appear on his face, though and smoothly said, "Yeah, I was kinda training without it. If my enemies took the Blastia from me, I'd be put at a disadvantage." His sweat from earlier enforced his lie.

Estelle hummed a little. "I think you have a point there." Whew, she bought it. He hated lying to her about what he was _really_ doing; but…he felt uncomfortable to tell her _that_. He looked over at Repede, to see him looking up at him with his single blue-green eye. Yuri had a feeling that the dog knew what was wrong with him. They've been together for four years since he left the Imperial Knights, so…he supposed that would make sense.

He assured the princess that he'll put the Blastia back on later as soon as everyone is finished.

However…the unease that he had felt last night is back. And…

Why couldn't he shake off that something bad is going to happen? Something much worse?

He hopes it's just him...

_**~o~**_

"Lord Yggdrasill."

The Higher Seraphim turned his attention to an angel that had flown in. "What is it?"

"We have located the angel," she reported.

He smirked darkly. "Excellent. Where is it located?"

"We have managed to locate the angel on the world called 'Terca Lumireis'."

He raised a yellow brow. Terca Lumireis? He hadn't heard that name over twenty years ago. And an angel on that Aer invested world…? How is that possible? Somehow, something doesn't seem right…

"What is our next order, Lord Yggdrasill?" The black feathered angel asked, her gaze blank – much like all the others.

The blonde went silent for a moment, thinking. Then he made another dark smirk. "You dismissed."

"Yes sir," she bowed robotically, then flew off, not questioning her orders – as she and the others were programed to do.

As for himself…

His vibrant, pinkish-purple wings appeared from his back as he moved off of his throne, making his way towards a particular room. The smirk he had on his face is still present.

For he had an angel to find, confront…and – in a worst case scenario – possibly kill them…if this angel becomes a likely threat.

_**~o~**_

"Oi! Flynn!"

The blonde paused before the entrance toward the exit in the public quarter and turned to the source – along with Sodia and Witcher – to see Hanks running up to them.

"Hanks, what is it?" The blonde queried when the elder man got near them.

The elder man had to stop and hunch over a little to catch his breath, his hand over his chest. He barely caught Hanks muttering, "I'm getting too old for this…" before the elder straightened himself. "You're going after Yuri, aren't you Flynn?" It wasn't a question, the blonde knew; Hanks knows the two of them well enough.

"Of course," the blonde nodded, "Someone else had to look out for him."

Not like he had any faith in Yuri's friends. Yet there's also the fact that Lady Estellise had gone after them – sometime after breakfast when they left – and, as a knight, it's his duty to protect everyone he could. And, as the new Commandant, that responsibility increased.

"I see…" The elder man sighed a little. "That Yuri…he's much like his mother in a way." The blonde blinked. That's the first he had ever heard about Yuri's mother. "Which reminds me…" Hanks trailed off as he dug around in his pocket.

He shared a look with his – newly appointed – Captain and magician and looked back at the elder man, just as he pulled something out. "Here it is! It's a good thing I thought about taking this with me with the whole fiasco around here before things returned to normal yesterday."

The blonde blinked again when he saw what it is. "A letter?"

"Yes," Hanks confirmed with a nod, "I meant to give this to Yuri earlier, but that lad was in such a rush. It was almost as if he didn't want Miss Estelle to go with them."

He heard Sodia scoff a little. "Leave it to him to be rude even to elders…" The Commandant ignored it as he thought about what Hanks had said. A letter...to Yuri? But…who could have…?

"…May I inquire who it was from?" He cautiously – and politely – asked.

"It's from his mother." Hanks' answer made him do a take in shock. A letter; from Yuri's mom? First the memento and now this letter?

"His…mother, Hanks?" He asked slowly, as if he isn't sure if he could believe it.

"That's right." Well, that answered his question. "She asked me to give this to Yuri as soon as he's old enough before she passed away." The elder sighed. "Such a shame, really…Yuri was barely a year old when it happened."

…Why is it lately that he's finding out some more things he didn't know previously about his friend? First the wings, and now this… What next? His real father is actually from another world, and the source of the wings Yuri has now? He knew that part was unlikely, but…

"Anyway," Hanks' voice brought him out of his thoughts, "I had a favor to ask of you: Can you deliver this to Yuri? You _are_ going to the same place he's going, right?"

Flynn automatically nodded. "Of course," he said as he delicately took the envelope – it looked really old – and looked over it, and the signature that says 'Yuri'.

…Strange, it looked…a bit too neat to be written by someone from the lower quarter…

"And one more thing, Flynn," he looked back at the elder man as he looked over the new Commandant. The blonde could see that the elder man had a glint in his eye – like he was proud of the young Commandant, but…he seemed a bit…sad somehow. "Just promise me that you two get back safely. You two are like a part of our ever expanding family, y'know."

Somehow, that sentence touched Flynn's heart, and he felt his cheeks heat up a little. "And also," the elder added, "don't do anything crazy over there, you hear? Especially Yuri."

Knowing Yuri, that's likely to happen, the blonde thought as he straightened out. "Of course," he nodded, "I'll make sure that Yuri and I will come back, safe and sound. I promise." ...Why did he have a feeling he wouldn't keep that promise...?

Hanks smiled. "I know you will." With that, the elder man left the three of them to return to the other people of the lower quarter, to fix up the mess that occurred when Co- Alexei abused Lady Estellise's power.

The young Commandant looked over at the letter, and was reminded of the weight of the music box in his pack. There are now two promises he had to fulfill. With a nod, he tucked the letter with the music box and looked over at his two, faithful companions. "Let's go," he spoke up, and the three left Zaphias.

A while later, Flynn found himself standing at the deck of the Imperial Warships, a lot of them on their way towards the structure that he risen from deep in the ocean brought out by Alexei. As he looked out over the horizon, something…disturbed him.

It was as if that something is going to go horribly, horribly wrong there…

And – unknown to him, Yuri had the exact same feeling – he couldn't shake off this unease that settled into his heart.

He hoped it was just him...

* * *

**WAH! ANOTHER SHORT ONE! …What's WRONG with me?**

**For those of you who played Tales of Vesperia and had completed Zaude…shit is about to hit the fan; and it is where the change is about to occur.**

…**And seriously, would you be giddy too if you can just fly around for the hell of it? I actually had a bit of fun writing Yuri's 'flying lesson'.**

**Reviews make me happy. So…leave one here, please? *tries to make puppy eyes, but fails epically* **

**(Fixed this up; in my own face!)**


	4. Chapter 4

…Like stated last chapter, shit is about to hit the fan. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, then the Schwann Brigade wouldn't fail epically (since they're not the sharpest tools in the shed).**

* * *

"…That was surprisingly merciful of you," Rita stated to the dark haired swordsman after they left the room where they fought Yeager.

What the genius mage said was true. And the fact that she was shocked – or surprised – by the act of mercy Yuri displayed to the enemy…she hid it pretty well. And she had a feeling Judith also hid her surprise – way better than the twerp, the Old Man and Estelle. Though, the shock of Yeager having a Blastia heart like the Old Man nearly overrode what happened back in there…

"_Ugh…" The strange accented man groaned, clutching his wound as he fell to his knee. _

_With the Old Man cursing under his breath, it seemed that he missed hitting the Blastia heart. He pulled out another arrow and cocked it ready, pointing at the leader of Leviathan's Claw. "Nothin' personal, but," the dark brunette narrowed his pale eyes, "this is for the Don."_

"_For all the things you've done," Karol added, gripping the white/yellow broadsword tightly._

"_And for being a pain in the ass," Rita put in her two cents, conjuring a fire ball in her hand._

_The odd man, however, just laughed then winced in pain. "Ugh…Ja, you've got me good, didn't you?"_

_No one said anything at first…until Yuri spoke up. "I guess we did." Then he looked in a different direction, "By the way, how come you two didn't jump in?"_

_Huh? What was he talking about? She thought as she looked in the direction he was-_

_She nearly jumped in shock when she – and she's sure the others had as well – saw the two girls that were with Yeager standing in front of the doors they had come in from earlier. What the-? How long have they been standing there? ?_

_Wait. The brunette girl looked over at the dark haired man, who looked unsurprised seeing them. She narrowed her eyes. _'Had he known they were there the whole time?'_ She asked herself. If so, then how did he-?_

"_Yeah, that is a good question," Karol's annoying voice broke her out of her thoughts. She glared briefly at the boy – who scratched his head a little – from the corner of her eyes as he continued, "How come you didn't help him?"_

_The one with red hair – she didn't care to catch the girls' names – seemed to growl at them while the one with greenish-yellow hair made a face. And the genius mage made a similar look. "Not going to answer, huh?" She muttered, crossing her arms._

_The Old Man lowered the bow, the arrow dropping down a little. "…Were the two of you ordered to stand by?"_

_The way they flinched means that he was spot on. She briefly heard Yuri mumble something under his breath until he turned away from the girls, towards Yeager-_

_And walked passed him. The dark haired man didn't allow them to recover from their shock when he said, "C'mon, Alexei isn't waiting on us."_

_The female mage couldn't help but look at the dark haired man in shock. She looked back at Yeager and the two girls – seeing them just as surprised as the others – and back at Yuri. "Wait, you're going to leave them? Just like that?"_

_He paused a moment. "…They better get out of my sight _fast_, before I change my mind." Then he continued walking._

_All Rita could do is share a look with the others (besides Repede), casted a look back at the leader and members of Leviathan's Claw – as the green/blond girl (Droite, right?) slowly walked over to the odd accented man – before she reluctantly followed the dark clad man with the others…_

When she finished going through her memory, the dark haired male just shrugged indifferently. "Eh, it probably didn't occur to me."

"But-" The twerp piped up.

"Just consider that I've given Yeager a once in a lifetime opportunity," the second older male piped in, "Besides, if there's one thing I can't stand the most is people who were forced to do things they don't want to." She caught the flinch the Old Man had made – since what Yuri said is most likely spot on.

"That's right…" she heard Estelle mutter, casting a small glance at the pink haired princess, "He had a Blastia heart, much like Raven…"

"Oh c'mon," the Old Man sighed, "Talkin' about ta past just gives ol' Raven bad memories…"

He yelped when Rita karate chopped the older male on the forehead. "Save your sob stories for later, Old Man," she said in annoyance.

"Yeah," Yuri spoke up, "We've still got a bastard's ass to kick."

They nodded, and silence fell over them as they continued to make their way to where Alexei most likely is. However, Rita couldn't help but cast a glance over at the dark haired man. She narrowed her eyes at him. Ever since this morning, Yuri's been acting…well, weirder than usual. She caught the dark haired man usually held a hand over one of his ears while on the way to Zaude – though he seemed to suspiciously do so when it seemed no one was looking. While exploring Zaude, she noticed the swordsman giving her, the Old Man, and Estelle a particular look while they were in battle – against the Royal Guard or the monsters that live here, it doesn't seem to matter – especially when they were using magic.

What's weirder, however, is that he seemed to be able to tell where the enemy is. It was as if…he could hear them. But that's impossible! He mind argued, there's no way a human can have that kind of hearing. Yuri may have been experienced in battle, but…there's still no way in hell that he could be able to do such things. He's-

"You've been staring at him for a while Rita," Judith's voice shocked the female mage out of her musings. She glanced at the blue haired Krityan – who always had a smile on her face – then stubbornly looked away from her.

"It's nothing like that!" She retorted softly – she didn't want anyone to hear her. Not even Yuri; she didn't want to let the other male know what she was up to.

However, she also knew that the female Krityan is just as perspective – if not as much – as the black clad swordsman. "Is there something on your mind?" She asked as she moved in step with the genius mage.

…Although she trusted the Krityan, somehow…she felt that it was a bad idea to talk about this with Judith – and the fact that she had gone around destroying Blastia as the so called 'Dragon Rider' (or 'Dragon Freak' as Rita called her) didn't help much; before they learned her side of the story that is. But… At heart, she's still a researcher; so, as one, she had to talk to others of their theory – since, in a way, Judith's dad is a researcher himself.

After giving a peek at the dark haired swordsman, she looked back at the Krityan. "I don't know, but…for some reason, he's been acting, well, strange-_r_ than usual since early this morning," she said, with her voice low. "And not the usual strangeness he displays."

"Oh? How so?" With that smile, not even Rita could tell what she was thinking.

But she went on, as prompted. "…I noticed that he seemed to have given everyone weird looks while we were leaving Zaphias," she said, "I mean the citizens that are returning to the city, and even the dopes in the Old Man's brigade and the people of the lower quarter." Now that she thought about it…yeah, he did seem to give everyone weird looks. He even looked up at Ba'ul funny even after they were relieved that the large Entelexia is fine, along with Tokunaga. "And…he _did_ ask me a weird question while on our way here."

"What's that?"

Even Rita felt weird when she remembered how odd the question is. "…Well, he asked me if I ever felt anything strange in the air. Like…" she put her hand over her temple, as if she was thinking (or maybe enduring a headache) "some sort of mist that we can't see, and not even feel. And…it's thicker around living things, like people and monsters."

At Judith's silence, she shook her head. "Like hell I knew what he was talking about," she said, "So I just gave him an odd look and said 'no'." Well, not really 'no', but she's sure the Krityan got the general idea.

"Anyways, I hope you're happy with my answer," the genius mage started to walk off to catch up with the others-

"He felt strange."

Until Judith spoke up, making her stop in her tracks. She looked back at the Krityan, who also stopped, and the smile on her face is gone. Rita blinked. _'What…?'_

"…What exactly do you mean by…strange?" She asked the blue/white clad female slowly, turning to her.

She didn't say anything at once. Then, she casted her pink gaze behind her – and Rita looked back as well, towards Yuri as he seemed to be in a conversation with Karol about something before back at the Krityan – before she looked back at the younger girl. "…Ever since we went into the illusion town of Yormgen, the energy around him is changing. As the days gone by, it continued to do so…as if his body is rejecting Aer itself."

The young brunette stared at her, and she's sure her face is like 'What the hell?' "…The hell do you mean? You _need_ Aer to survive! Without it, you'll die!"

But Judith shook her head. "There are some people who can live without Aer." She told her, "As we speak, Yuri's body is still trying to reject Aer, even when the energy around him has completely changed. Ba'ul had felt that change last night."

…Wait, what? "The hell do you mean 'last night'?"

Judith, once again, didn't say anything at once. The two of them had a stare off, with Rita trying to say with her eyes for the Krityan to tell her what she meant, and now! …But the blue haired female didn't seem fazed at all.

After a few moments, the young brunette groaned, frustrated/aggravated or all other emotions that is associated with irritation, giving up. "Fine! Don't tell me!" She then stalked off towards the others, leaving the Krityan female behind.

Sometime later, in another hallway – similar to the one that leads to the room where Yeager is – another surprise came up to them.

In the form of Flynn, and his two lackeys (who she didn't care to know the names of). Although, she honestly wasn't surprised when Flynn said that they were going to aid them in taking Alexei down. And neither was Yuri…yet, he didn't seem surprised to see Flynn and his lackeys coming in… It was as if he had heard them come in, despite the roar of the water around them.

If her suspicions weren't high before, then they wouldn't have gone higher than it already was. But she decided to put her suspicions on hold; after all, they had unfinished business to take care of.

Yet everything nearly went to hell once they went in.

They came in to see the ex-Commandant (bastard) fiddling with the controls of sort associated when dealing with Blastia or other sources of research – which she herself and a few other mages have used. While they were fortunate that the silver haired bastard doesn't know how to make the whole place work, the Royal Guard that was with him are stubborn bastards much like their leader; their loyalty to that jerk is admittedly scary.

While the rest of Flynn's brigade took care of them, they focused on the man who is pretty much the bane of their existence right now (and the person who pretty much started this mess anyway).

Yet, instead of just charging in (like he would sometimes do), Yuri stared up at one of the Blastia next to the stairs that leads up to the ex-Commandant. But she barely paid any mind to it as she blasted back a Royal Guard that tried to attack her. When it looked like they were having the upper hand-

"EVERYONE! MOVE TO THE RIGHT! NOW!"

What the-? Was that Yuri? And she never heard that level of urgency in his voice before. Yet she did as the dark haired man said (and she noticed the others doing the same)-

"HOLY-!"

Just in time to dodge a laser of sorts from the Blastia Yuri was looking at!

What- How in- _What the hell? ?_ The young female mage looked over at the dark haired male, how had the blonde Commandant's arm in his hand as they just dodged the blast. How in the hell did he-?

Growling mentally, she shook her head. Not NOW! There are _more_ pressing matters to deal with! And she's sure the others had gone over their shock as well before they all quickly got onto the rising platform where Alexei is.

It wasn't long until they all had gotten into battle after hearing the ravings of a mad man – like hell he gave a damn about everyone else in the world; seriously, saving the world by destroying it? That's not only downright crazy (the bad variety that is), foolish, and, well, stupid (it seems so in _her_ mind, though). And the Old Man wasn't kidding when he said that Alexei is tough.

For one, he's _very_ sturdy to withstand Violent Pain, and even Witcher's own magic spells (not as powerful as hers, but that's beside the point). The Old Man and even Karol had to go on defensive – using long range attacks to boot – to avoid the ex-Commandant's attacks as Judith and Repede covered for them. Estelle had to work double time – despite the seal she placed on her powers – to heal anyone that is injured, even throwing in a couple of light based spells to help as Sodia guards her. Even Yuri and Flynn were having a hard time doing damage to him; all they could do is block his attacks, and Yuri usually had to guard Flynn as the blonde casted his own brand of spells – either healing or using light based ones like Estelle.

…But she couldn't help but admit that seeing the two of them working together – as if they were one – trying to subdue the older man was quite a sight. She never really saw the blonde fight – besides the time where the two fought in the coliseum after reaching Nordopolica – but it was still interesting to see the two of them like this. As she casted another spell, she noticed that Alexei was saying something to the two men as they locked blades in an 'x' position with his False Dein Nomos. She couldn't hear what they were saying. But whatever he just said must've pissed Yuri off as he retaliated against him violently – if she was any normal person, she would've been quite disturbed to see the male do that; however, the only times she had _ever_ seen the dark haired male like this was when he was _extremely_ pissed off – with Zagi or anyone else unfortunate to be in the path of fire that is Yuri's wrath. Mainly monsters.

Preparing another spell, she noticed that the dark haired male's attacks – as he guarded Flynn as he prepares a spell – have started to become…faster. Faster than her own eyes could catch – despite months of perfecting her magic, and getting stronger along with the others.

When they broke off, and Alexei managing to dodge a Holy Lance – a lot stronger than Estelle's – fired by Flynn, he seemed to be smirking, despite the cuts and tears on his red outfit (and she could've sworn that she could even see dents on his armor).

"Impressive," he said, slightly panting. "It has been a while since I had to fight like this." He immediately frowned and narrowed his eyes. "But I'm afraid that I have to 'end' our little game…"

For some reason, Rita had a feeling that they're all so screwed right now.

Evident when the man held up the sword in front of him and the blade began to glow a whitish-blue hue. She could've sworn that she heard Yuri take in a sharp in-take of breath but was distracted by the sight of the sword growing seven 'prongs' – and she could _feel_ the Aer condensing off of it.

"_Fly, oh holy sword!_" He chanted, before he threw it Yuri and Flynn. They managed to dodge, but the two had gotten their shirts cut as the result. But Alexei wasn't done as he brought up his hand and swept it across from right to left-

"AUGH!" She cried out as she felt the 'prongs' slash across her back, forcing her to fall to her knees as she heard Karol's yelp of surprise and the Old Man's grunt – sounding as if the sword had got him as well.

Then the elder man held his hands upward. _"Brilliant…"_

Rita had one thought before the ex-Commandant finished his attack: _'Oh fuck…'_

"_CATACLYSM!"_ The sword pierced the ground and a large, circular glyph spread out until it was under _everyone_-

And she _screamed_ as the light energy from glyph brought pain – much worse than anything she had dealt with; the attacks from a couple of Giganto Monsters were _nothing_ compared to this! In her pain filled haze, she heard the others screaming – or howling in Repede's case – in pain as well. In her befuddled mind, the pain felt like it had lasted for a minute- an hour- a day- a week- a month- no, it felt like a _year _or more!

But it only lasted for a moment before the pain subsided and they – even the _strongest_ ones out of their group – fell to the ground in pain.

As she groaned in pain, her body twitching once every few seconds, she couldn't fathom just how _powerful_ that attack is. All of them had come with every intention of stopping the madman – yet, even with the old man's warnings, despite their confidence, despite their teamwork… this man had effortlessly brought them down with just one attack! One. Attack. As if they were nothing but mere mosquitoes to him!

But, she couldn't give up! She can't die! Not like this! With every ounce of her willpower – stubbornness and desperation giving life to her shaky, weak arms – she managed to push herself up a bit, until she was on her elbows. From there, she could see everyone else struggling to push themselves back up, despite the pain they were in. Yuri was the first to get on his knees, using Dein Nomos to prop himself up, panting with effort.

"Well, it seems that all of you are still alive," Rita snapped her head to the red clad man – feeling light headed for a moment – when he spoke up. This time, he looked a _little_ impressed. He didn't seem fazed by the death glare she – and she had a feeling some of the others were making – had on him. "I was _sure_ that I'd like a little challenge."

She growled under her breath. That _bastard!_ He was toying with them! This guy is a lot worse than Ragou and Cumore combined!

"But I'm afraid that I'll have end this pointless strife," the ex-Commandant held up his sword once more, where it once again changed into its seven pronged formed. As he held onto it, it glowed brighter and brighter…as if he was charging it up, or he was going to take them out. One by one.

Suddenly, she saw his eyes shifted for a moment – as if he directed his gaze onto something – and he threw the sword. Right at _Flynn_!

All of them were to slow to move; too slow to get up to either repel the blade, push him out of the way, or any method to shield the new Commandant.

All but one.

To her, time seemed to have slowed down, as Yuri – of all people – was the quickest to move his body and tacked Flynn out of the way with his own body…

…And the Bodhi Blastia on his wrist was snagged by one of the prongs on it, and – with the force of physics – was literally torn in half, shattering into pieces.

She couldn't help but stare in shock – and she's sure the others were doing the same – as the Blastia fell to the ground, useless. After saving Flynn, Yuri stared down at the broken Bodhi Blastia, seemingly ignoring the cut he got on his wrist as blood dripped down a little. Silently, the dark haired young man picked up the piece with the red gem still in its place on the Blastia, staring down at it in the palm of his hand.

She looked back up at the red clad man – who had somehow retrieved the sword and gritted his teeth, as if annoyed (but she could see that he was just as shocked) that Yuri had saved the young Commandant's life – slowly walking up to the dark clad male, his sword still glowing that same whitish-blue hue.

"I'm partially surprised that you were able to move that fast to save Flynn Scifo's life," he said, standing above the dark violet haired man, "Yet, a risk that ended up costing your Bodhi Blastia." Yuri stayed silent, stilling looking at the red gem. "Such a shame, really. The two of you had such potential when you two joined the Imperial Knights. However, all it took was for Niren Fedrock to die that made you quit."

The female mage flinched – and she barely noticed Yuri doing the same – when she heard that name. Niren Fedrock? That name…why does it sound so familiar? She didn't have time to rack her brain to figure out why – since she admitted that she was never good with remembering faces due to her solitude and her reputation – when Alexei added:

"I suppose that's what he gets for disobeying orders."

For some reason, the air seemed…colder after he spoke that sentence. And she could've sworn the hair on the back of her neck started to stand straight up, feeling a sort of instinct to run from a predator when her light green eyes shifted over to Yuri, who clenched the hand around the Blastia, still silent.

She looked back up at Alexei, just as he said, "It's time to end this." He held up his sword skyward and the sword's glow intensified. Yuri still didn't move.

What the hell is wrong with him? Rita thought as she gritted her teeth, trying her best to get _up and help! Save Yuri's ass!_ Shut the hell up, she told that part of the brain, I'm _trying_ to!

But, once again, time seemed to have slowed when Alexei brought the sword down-

_CLANG!_

Rita couldn't help but stare dumbly – and she felt that the others were the same way. How- How in-?

She didn't even _see_ that! Since when did Yuri get that _fast_? ? He-He caught that blade like it was a poorly thrown punch! …And from Alexei's face, he somehow managed to stop him cold, no matter how much the older man tried to put his weight into it!

And _every_ hair on her body started to stand up straight when he slowly moved his head up to look at Alexei. Then the man's face took on a look of horror – yes, _horror_ – from what he saw from the dark haired man's expression.

"Don't you _dare_…" he hissed his voice so low that she almost didn't hear it – his words as if they were…ice – almost…vicious. "_Mock Captain Niren! !"_ He riposted the ex-Commandant's sword and standing on his feet in the same motion-

For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But it was gone in that same moment- before Yuri all but slugged Alexei, making the older man crash onto the ground and tumble back a couple of feet, the False Dein Nomos clattering near the center of the platform.

'_Holy-!'_ She wasn't able to _finish_ that thought when Yuri tossed Dein Nomos aside, ran towards the ex-Commandant as he was getting up-

And she couldn't look away as Yuri started to beat the living crap out of Alexei. Literally, the guy was unleashing _hell_ on him!

To be frank, this is the most pissed off side of him she has _ever_ seen_. _Sure there were times in the past, but…

She forced her thoughts to go blank, equally forcing herself on her knees as she dug around for a Lemon Gel – one of the few gels that she had…well, 'taken' when no one was looking. Even though she's a bit mature, she still favors the squishiness, and the rich, fruity flavors of the gummies – to bring back her stamina. After chewing on the gummi – and having no time to relish the sour, lemon-y flavor of the healing item – she regained enough of her strength to stand on her own (though still feeling slightly weak).

As she did, she took stock of everyone else, the Old Man slowly standing up, chewing on a gel of his own while holding onto his bow – the arrow he was cocking glowing a soft, light blue – and some of the other females were starting to stand. Then the old man held up his bow and let loose the arrow, where it flew up in the air before it split apart to go to the remaining males of the group. Karol then gave Repede a Lemon Gel as he was getting up, using the Bravior sword as leverage like Yuri had done moments before.

When she looked back at fight, she couldn't help but feel a little unnerved as Yuri kept pounding away at Alexei. But, after giving the corrupt man a right hook, followed by an uppercut with his left, the dark clad young man grabbed the ex-Commandant by the collar and _threw _him towards where the False Dein Nomos laid. The platform they were on finally reached the top floor of the large structure, the older man lying near the large, floating core hovering over them.

Everyone is on guard, watching as Alexei slowly pushed himself up from the metallic floor. He looked a little worse for wear…and Rita could spot a bit of blood coming out of his mouth, along with a bunch of bruises on his face.

…Yuri really did a number on him, she thought as she looked over the dark haired male, who was panting a little. She made a mental note not to piss of dark purple haired male in the future, for her own sake.

As the ex-Commandant get to his knees, Flynn walked next to Yuri – and without her knowing (or see it) – with Dein Nomos in his hand. "Alexei Dinoia," he spoke up with an authoritive tone, "For crimes you have committed to the people of Terca Lumireis, for endangering the lives of Master Ioder and Lady Estellise, you are hereby under arrest. It's over."

The ex-Commandant didn't say anything…

…But when she saw him smirk, she had a sudden feeling that something is very, _very_ wrong. "You're right. It's over…for you."

Before anyone could question what he meant, the display Alexei had on earlier reappeared behind him. After staring at it for a while, she took in a sharp gasp as horror filled the female mage's veins when she realized what happened. "You- You were analyzing this thing the whole time!"

Excluding Flynn and his lackeys – who looked confused by the terror they heard in her voice – the others looked back at the young brunette in equal horror, and the silver haired bastard barked out a laugh. "That's right," he said, the others looking back as the red clad man got onto his feet, his False Dein Nomos held in his hand, "Now it is time to activate Zaude, and destroy the threat for good!"

He held the sword in his hand as six symbols – similar to the original Dein Nomos but blue instead of yellow – came into existence around him.

"_NO!_" Yuri cried out as he snatched Dein Nomos from Flynn, ran towards the ex-Commandant and held the sword the same way the older man did. The energy they emitted clashed against each other, pushing against them and nearly made them fall over from the sheer _power_ from the two forces. Truly, it was a battle of willpower; the ex-Imperial Knight verses the ex-Commandant, each fighting for control over Zaude – one trying to stop the structure from activating while the other did the opposite, all in the pursuit of power.

All of the sudden, they all heard a loud moan, that made the two swordsmen to stop what they were doing and everyone looked around for the source. A surprised bark from Repede made her look at the dog, the said canine looking up at something in what resembled shock. She looked at what he was looking at-

And did a take in surprise. "What the hell…" She let out.

The giant core above Yuri and Alexei…it was glowing.

At what she said, the others looked up at the core – including the wielders of Dein Nomos (real and fake) – as it continued to glow. Then, it let loose a beam of light up into the sky. She couldn't help but blink. Isn't that where Brave Vesperia is?

As soon as she thought that, the beam...made contact with something _in_ the sky. After that something glowed brightly for a moment…dark red lines started to appear – shaped like hexagons, actually and…they started to spread.

She watched this spectacle in confusion. What the hell is going on?

Rita soon got her answer as one section of the sky started to turn black – like something had _ripped_ a hole in the sky-

And she gasped when _something_ started to fall _out _of the hole. Masses of energy followed that…thing, like-like they were seaweeds stuck to a creature. But…what the _hell_ is that-that…grotesque _thing_ coming out of the sky? !

"Wh-What is that thing? !" Witcher literally took the words right out of her mouth – and she could clearly hear the terror in his voice.

She heard Judith gasp a little, and she shifted her gaze over to the usually calm Krityan – and she couldn't help but be disturbed when the female mage saw her cover her mouth in shock. "It-It resembled the creature from the picture in Myrozo…!"

'_What?'_ Rita thought as she looked back at the large mass. …Now that she got a good look at it, it _does_ resemble that-

Wait. _WHAT! ?_

"You mean…tha-that _thing_ is…" She didn't dare finish that sentence.

But Yuri did. "The Adephagos…" For the first time, she could hear the fear in his voice – and it unnerved her. A lot-

"NO!" She looked back at Alexei, seeing stagger forward, looking up at the mass they were looking at. "Zaude- It- It was- It was _supposed_ to be a weapon! A weapon to _destroy_ the Adephagos!"

A weapon? What is he-?

Then the phrase from what Judith said in that picture in the elder's house in Myrozo flashed back into her mind.

"_And so the Adephagos disappeared into the void…"_

Suddenly, what Alexei had said made sense! The Adephagos, the terrible threat in the past that the people of Geraios Civilization and the Entelexia had fought against…

"Oh god…" She let out, ignoring the looks everyone is giving her. "Zaude…It was never meant to _be_ a weapon!"

"Rita, what are you-"

She cut off whoever spoke, continuing, "'The Adephagos disappeared into the void'… The people, Krityans and the Entelexia from a thousand years ago never defeated it! And Zaude was never a weapon to begin with! This place…it's a giant _Barrier Blastia_!"

After she exclaimed that, somehow…somehow she felt that everyone now had a look of horror on their faces. But, she felt that this was true. How else could it be that this place existed? Why else would the Krityans dispose of the Blastia centuries ago? And the reason why Phaeroh warned them not to disturb Zaude? The Entelexia were afraid that history was going to repeat itself! …In a way, it did.

All because of one man who was so drunk on power that he would resort to…_this_?

"That's right…" She and the others looked back up at Alexei, who held up his hands, as if beckoning something towards him. "We're all at the Adephagos' mercy… Soon, everything will perish!" Then he…he started to _cackle_.

That made the female mage glare at him in disgust. Has he finally gone _mad_? That _bastard_! Because of his mistake, everyone is going to die!

And it seemed like she wasn't the only one who's angry – or disgusted with him – as she noticed Flynn and Yuri quivering in rage.

The moment she blinked, Alexei's mad cackle was cut off, seemingly chocking on his breath. She looked at the two young swordsmen, who had each thrust their swords into the crazed man – Yuri on the right, and Flynn on the left.

"You bastard…!" Yuri snarled, "You're going to make everyone pay for your mistake? !"

"You truly _have_ gone low!" Flynn added, just as pissed off as the dark haired male beside him.

When Flynn finished speaking, Alexei let out a chocked chuckle, a bit of blood coming out of his mouth. "This world is filled with fools…" She heard him say. He then closed his eyes – and she could've sworn she saw tears falling from his eyes as False Dein Nomos fell from his hand. "But the greatest fool of all…was me…"

The large Blastia Core above them started to shake uncontrollably, electricity started to spark around it and the four towers around the platform. The female mage took notice of this, and hollered at the two swordsmen, "Yuri! Flynn! Get your asses out of there!"

They looked up at the Blastia Core over them and Yuri kicked Alexei's body off of their swords-

But the core chooses that moment to start falling right over them. Yuri took a moment to glance up, grab Flynn and hurled the blonde over to the others as he quickly ran the other way-

Just as the giant core smashed onto the platform, crushing Alexei – who didn't bother to move, to get away like Yuri – under it, and shattering the platform in the process with enough force to make large pieces of it to kick up. The others quickly moved out of the way to avoid getting hit by the debris from both the platform and the core, Sodia and Witcher quickly dragging Flynn away.

Once the dust had settled, and them in the safe distance, they all looked at the core, shocked by what just happened.

Shocked by what they had just witnessed, by what they went through – anything!

But in moments, the shock disappeared as Flynn stood up and looked at them. "Everyone," he said softly, "What exactly is going on?"

At that, even Estelle had no idea how to explain what just happened. So he clarified, "What exactly is the Adephagos, and what do you mean by what you said, Miss Mordio?"

From what she could see in his eyes, he diffidently wanted an explanation. He – and his lackeys – were pretty much in the dark by what they had gone through since Pharoeh tried to kill Estelle back in Dahngrest after the whole fiasco with Barbos.

After they gave each other a look, the Old Man sighed. "Get comfortable. It's gonna be a long story…"

Indeed, it _does_ feel like it…

_**~o~**_

"Holy crap…" Yuri muttered, slowly pushing himself from the ground when the impact of the core literally knocked him off his feet.

When he was sure there would be no aftershocks, stood on his feet as he looked over at the core that is now sticking out of the platform. He tried not to look at the pool of blood that was seeping out from under it, and looked back up at the mass in the sky. Or rather the Adephagos.

What Rita had said came to his mind, along with the reading Judy translated back when they were in Myrozo. And considering what she had said, he couldn't help but huff in exasperation. "I guess Rita's right. If they weren't able to destroy it, then all they could manage was seal it away."

That explained a lot of things actually. Why else would the Krityans throw away the Blastia? Why else would the Entelexia tried to stop the humans ten years ago from using the damn Hermes Blastia?

These thoughts left his mind when he gazed back at the piece of the Bodhi Blastia in his right hand. The small red, diamond shaped gem imbedded in the piece of golden-yellow metal glinted in the sunlight, making him frown. "I'm sorry captain…" He muttered softly, curling his fingers around the remaining piece of the Bodhi Blastia that had been with him for four years ever since…ever since _that_ day.

He had failed to save the captain. Just as they had failed to stop Alexei from screwing the world over; in a way, he did – but not like this. Now with that _thing_ out, how in the hell are they going to get rid of it? Those people back a thousand years ago tried to, but failed. Will they fail like them? Will many innocent people die, along with the Entelexia? Will they-?

Every hair on the back of his neck started to stand up straight, and he felt his entire body to freeze.

What- What the hell _is _that? It was- It was unlike anything he had felt! The feeling he felt from the Adephagos was _nothing_ compared to _this_! Where the Adephagos felt so…so _thick_ – and it felt somewhat like Ba'ul for some reason – but… this one felt _thicker_! So thick, it-it felt like heavy cream. Ice cream? But…where is it coming from-?

He turned on his heel to look behind him, only to let out a confused grunt when he saw nothing. Yuri took cautious steps away from the edge, and warily looked around, pocketing the Blastia as he did so. After a couple of steps, he stopped and looked around again. That was odd, he could've sworn he felt-

"How interesting."

A voice he _didn't _recognize spoke up behind him, making him freeze again. What the-? Wasn't that space empty a few seconds ago? He was pretty sure it was.

He shifted his eyes a little, not daring himself to see what – or who – is behind him. The dark haired male remembered Dein Nomos still in his hand, but…for some reason, he felt this this being is different from what he faced.

Again, Yuri turned on his heel, confronting whoever was behind him-

"Huh?" He let out, seeing nothing there again. Right now, he's getting a bit creeped out. The dark clad swordsman gripped the sword tightly, taking shaky breathes to calm his beating heart – and the fact that he could also hear his heart did nothing to settle his panic-

"You're terrified, aren't you?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he could've sworn his heart had literally stopped beating when he heard the voice…

Right behind him!

He turned again to confront the being – no _run! Safe yourself_ – and he felt his blood turning cold.

Before him is a man he had never seen before. His long blonde hair reached to the middle of his back, his fringe nearly covering his left eye, both colored in a pale green that somehow sent shivers down his spine. The man is clad in nothing but a white – completely white, like powder snow – form fitting outfit with golden yellow at the hems of his sleeves, and pants – both of them slanted inwards at an angle – and a sort of design at the middle, white shoes with yellow at the toes, and a rather large, diamond shaped gem is on some sort of…yellow _thing_ on his chest.

In any other situation, Yuri would've laughed at the way the man was dressed – he was wearing a _spandex_ for crying out loud. But there's one final thing the man has that made Yuri stare in shock.

He has wings. WINGS. Like himself. But…bigger, and colored in purplish-pink rather than his own bluish-purple ones.

Yuri had no idea what to make of _this_ now. It's just one thing after another today!

The man, however, seemed amused by his expression. "I suppose you would be surprised," he said with a smile – that somehow unsettled the dark purple haired man, "There wasn't any method of receiving the wings on this Aer infested world."

The statement made Yuri go still in shock again. This guy sounded as if he knew something about Aer! But…why couldn't he shake the feeling that something was wrong? Something was telling him to _go- run- find the others and get the hell out of here!_ And why are his thoughts like this? ?

"But," the man's voice suddenly went emotionless as he frowned, "what sort of use would you _humans_ do with it? The humans here are much like the humans I used to know, and perhaps are still the same."

What the fuck; what is he talking about? Is this guy off his rocker or something? Isn't he a human to-

_Not a human. You must run. Get away from him! He'll kill you!_

What?

"Though, I suppose you're not a human yourself, aren't you?"

That statement made Yuri look at the blonde man weirdly. "…What?" He let out.

The blond man then smirked cruelly. "I won't enlighten a dog such as you."

The insult snapped Yuri out of the trance the man had put him in. He narrowed his eyes at the man. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded, holding the sword up in a wary stance.

The blond man merely looked at him, his smirk still present. Then, the man chuckled – and the dark swordsman felt unsettled again. "As I've stated, I won't enlighten a dog, no matter how much you demand. Your courage is misplaced. Now, I shall offer you a deal. Come with me – if you do, then I shall tell you what you want to know."

Yuri's mouth went flat at what the blonde man said. Something about what the man said didn't feel right. Keeping his expression neutral, he asked in an equally emotionless tone, "And if I refuse?"

The blonde man answered, "Then I'll just take you by force."

Doesn't mince words, does he? Yuri thought, still on edge. From what the dark clad male figured, this spandex wearing guy wanted him to surrender himself. And if he doesn't, then this guy will probably kick his ass to kingdom come to make him submit.

But Yuri never _did_ like taking orders from anyone – especially from people he never knew.

Yet…something kept screaming at him to run. To get away from this man- far away-

"YURI!"

The dark haired male flinched, his eyes wide.

"YURI! ARE YOU OKAY OVER THERE? ?"

Oh crap, that was Flynn! What is he-?

"Wait a minute; is Yuri really on the other side?" Karol!

"Yeah, I saw him go over there before that core fell," oh damn, Rita.

"I hope he's alright…" He nearly flinched when he heard Estelle.

It didn't help matters when he heard the man in front of him say, "Ah, so they are your friends?" Yuri sharply looked up at him, shocked. He could hear them too? ? The smirk the man had on his face seemed to grow, making it look sinister – but it's still cruel, nonetheless. And wasn't that the disturbing part?

"Perhaps a little _persuasion_ will get you make your decision," the man said as he held up his hand, and an energy of sorts appeared.

Upon seeing that, the dark haired male's instinct to protect his loved ones kicked in and he slashed at the man, who just dodged the swipe. "Leave them alone!" He shouted, getting into a stance – injuries be damned.

The white clad man narrowed his eyes at the dark clad swordsman. "So you wished to resist? Very well," he held up his hands as the energy formed over them, "you have dug your own grave."

For the first time in his life, Yuri was truly scared for his life, and one thought that entered his head before the fight began was:

'_Oh fuck…'_

What happened next was a blur to the dark purple haired male. He wasn't sure why, or how, but he could barely remember the battle. But he did remember two things.

The unbearable pain he endured was one of them. And hearing himself scream was the second.

And in what felt like a second later, Yuri crashed back onto the core and he felt the back of his head collide with it. He was unable to let out pain induced cry, stars flooding his vision for a moment, and he crumbled to the ground the next, Dein Nomos clattering on the ground before him.

Oh damn…he never felt this level of pain before… He could barely move...

This guy…he isn't human… And he's too powerful to be an Entelexia… Just who is this guy…?

He was barely aware of the man calmly walking up to him before stopping near his head, pushing aside the sword with his foot as if it was junk. And he could _feel_ the man smirking down at him. "See, it would have been easier if you had surrendered," he said, "but instead, you prefer to resist. All for defending those inferior beings you called friends."

Something in Yuri snapped. What…did he call them? _Inferior? _How _dare_ he call them that! He thought as he clenched his hands as anger once again gave life to his limbs as he struggled to push himself up. He heard the man say something, but he ignored him as he focused on getting up.

Gotta…protect everyone… He thought, Must…save everyone…

He had succeeded to get to his knees and glared up at the man. At that moment, he didn't care if he died. If he does, than he would die trying to protect the others (and kicking his ass for insulting them), defying this guy-

All of a sudden, the man's eyes went wide. "That face…"

Wha-?

"Yuri!"

At that moment he had become aware of the many footsteps heading towards him. As he turned to them a little, and using his peripheral vision, they had just came into the small arena behind the large core. And they all stopped dead when they take in the situation in front of them. And for once, Yuri didn't care if they saw him like this, having his ass nearly handed to him. Because he had a feeling that they were more shocked by the guy with wings right now than seeing him like this.

"What the-?"

"Who _is_ that?"

"Is that really wings that guy has? ?"

The most shocked was Flynn, staring up at the wings the man has then glanced over at him and back at the man, as the others were shocked/surprised by the man.

He suddenly heard the man scoff a little. "Pests," he muttered and Yuri looked back at him in time to see his hand up a little and a purple sword with white at the base suddenly appeared.

Despite the sudden surge of power he felt from it, his blood nearly turned to ice. No…

His body took on a will of its own, swiftly getting up and – without realizing it – picking up Dein Nomos. He couldn't let this guy harm the others- gotta protect them- must stop him!

The man in white saw his attempt and raised the sword to block it, and the blades collided. Yuri was barely aware of the bluish-purple aura around Dein Nomos, but he was more focused on trying to fend off this creep. But the blonde man looked as if he wasn't having any trouble on fending off the black clad male himself. But Yuri didn't let up, putting all of his weight into it-

The two swords started to glow a strange light. The blonde man's green eyes widen in shock, just as much as Yuri's. "What…?" He let out.

The light between the blades intensified, and it consumed everything around them. Everything.

The next thing Yuri knew, he was flying through a tunnel of sorts. All around him is nothing but white. Blinding white. Everything is soundless. There wasn't even a _feeling, _but he _felt_ that he was flying through…something.

He also felt the energies of the others – the soup-y feeling from some of his comrades (and he could've sworn that one of them felt…sweet; like honey), the juice-y feeling from Judy, and the pudding feeling from Repede – and he diffidently felt the extremely thick energy from that man. He followed the source to see the man had managed to regain his balance and glared at him. The man said something, but Yuri couldn't – literally – hear what he was saying.

The blonde man held up his hand and the same energy from earlier formed at the palm. Oh shit, he's going to try to kill them!

No way in hell!

Yuri wasn't sure how, but… somehow, he fired what looked like an Azure Edge at him, just as the man fired it at them. The two blasts collided, and it made Yuri fly away, Dein Nomos slipping from his grasp.

In fact, it made the others scatter! In panic, he tried to reach out to them, just as Estelle (who had regained her balance herself) did. But it was in vain, and everything had turned blindingly white at the very same moment…

…

…Cold…

He felt so cold…

"…ho…he…"

…Who is that…?

"…jus…ord…"

He cracked his eyes open a little, but his sight is completely blurry. He could see boots…shadows of other people that is around him…and a lot of white around him.

…_Dad, why does it snow here a lot?_

_A chuckle. He couldn't hear the reply, nor the voice… Is…this a memory…?_

_Will I meet her one day?_

_Another chuckle. This time, he could make out the words…but he still couldn't make out the voice. _

_Perhaps one day…_

Yuri groaned a little before his eyes slipped closed.

And the world around him went black.

* * *

**Oh wow… This…actually took a lot longer to write… I'm so sorry everyone…**

**But hey! The fun has now begun!**

**Yes, I've change a couple of scenes from the Zaude play-through, especially letting Yeager live. I've decided to let the German-accented man live – and I have a feeling that there are Yeager fans that will probably spaz out on me after reading this. And there's a VERY good reason why the Bodhi Blastia Yuri has must be broken; because Yuri won't need it where he is - and because of WHAT he is. *smiles evilly***

**Reviews are loved! And PLEASE tell me I've got Yeager, Alexei and Yggdrasill's characters right; along with Rita and Judith's. Flames will be used to burn Ragou, Cumore, Kvar, and any other sadistic bastards I hate.**


	5. Chapter 5

A new chapter? Yes! Indeed it is!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

_Everything felt…warm. _

_This warmth feels…nice. It felt…familiar._

_Where is he?_

_He could feel…a presence… this one felt so…familiar._

_But…he couldn't understand why…_

_He felt something on his cheek, as if cupping it. A hand…? He wanted to open his eyes, wanted to see who it is… But he didn't have the strength. Or maybe his eyes won't let him…_

_He opened his mouth, wanting to speak. Wanting to ask those three simple words in his question: Who are you?_

_But no words came out._

_A chuckle filled his ears. "It's okay…you will know, one day…"_

_Wha-?_

"Nngh…" A terrible ache caused him to wince, knocking him out of the dream and let out a loud groan.

Damn…his whole body felt like crap. Just what in the hell happened? It felt as if all of the Giganto Monsters decided to team up and kicked his ass or something. Every part of his body felt sore – he could barely feel his fingers and toes.

Even a small twitch caused pain, and he groaned before he could stop himself. _'This…sucks…'_ He couldn't help but thought, cursing his terrible luck.

Yuri settled for lying still for a few moments. His head needed to catch up. A bit later, his mind started to function a little more. But it was kind of hard from the pain he could still-

Wait. He could feel pain... Then…is he…?

No, hang on. He wanted to make sure he's safe first. Once again, he used his other senses to figure out where he is.

Sense of smell: antiseptic. A strange copper-y smell on him…is it blood? If so, then whose is it?

Sense of hearing: there was a strange hum that he couldn't identify. It wasn't loud, but because of his super hearing now, it was noticeable.

Sense of taste: the bitter after-taste of a couple of medicines. Did someone fed him a gel? …For some reason, it tasted…different; or maybe it was just him?

Sense of touch: his bare back is lying on something…soft, with sheets covering it. Is he lying on a bed? He was also faintly aware of bandages around parts of his body. …Were his injuries _that_ bad?

And finally, sight. He cracked his eyes open. Everything was blurry at first – and the light in the room nearly made his eyes water from the sudden brightness. It also made his vision swam as his head throb painfully. Well that's terrific…

He stared upward for a while as his vision slowly started to clear. Soon, he found himself staring up at a bare ceiling. Okay, he's got _that_ out of the way, now then…where in the hell is he? He wanted to move his head to look around, but it's still throbbing in pain. And trying to sit up might make it worse, however.

…But he had to know where he is; and if there's anyone else around-

Anyone else…

The others!

His body automatically shot up in a sitting position, desperate to see if his friends were around-

The dark purple haired male nearly screamed as his muscles cramped up and the thought of lying back sounded very appealing right now. He tried to ignore the throb that seemed persistent on being known and he placed a hand onto his temple to try to lessen it. God, where's Estelle or Flynn when you need them…?

Through monumental effort, he managed to stay upright despite his muscles protesting. After a moment, his muscles relaxed enough to check if he had any other injuries. He looked over his torso, raising his eyebrow a little at the bandages wrapped around his abdomen and over his left shoulder. Even his arms had little white patches on them.

Seriously, were his injuries _that_ bad…? They must be if Healing Artes couldn't heal them all the way. But he didn't think that the battle with Alexei wouldn't be _this_ bad-

Memories of what occurred after the battle, and of the white clad man, rushed back to him. The memory itself nearly made him freeze in shock. Oh crap…did that really happen? When he looked over the dressing on his torso again, that was most likely the case. He reached behind his head, and felt the wrappings around his head. But it didn't hurt, nor throb. Did that mean someone had healed him…?

If so, then… who?

After he checked his injury he slowly moved his head to look around. The room looked luxurious, the table next to him (where his clothes, bag and katana is) looked…ornate, kinda like the bed he was on, actually, and there are lavish armchairs all around. Dark colored curtains hung over the bed…sort of a, same shade as his hair, actually… In fact, the velvet-y sheets on the bed matched the color. But as he looked over the room, a single realization came to mind:

This didn't feel like a nobleman's room at all. He didn't know if he had _been_ into one – he never saw Estelle's room, and he wouldn't go low enough to invade a noble's bedroom – but he knew that a noble won't have things _this_ nice.

…If he's still where he is that is, he thought as he looked over the room again. Something was telling him that something felt…wrong. For one, the design of the room looked…different. The place looked as if it was made of metal – not stone, or the strange material in Zaude; and it doesn't seem to be made by Blastia (Krityan made or no) or any of the sorts. Second… the air around here feels…different; Aer felt somewhat lighter but feels…well somehow it felt like…grease – as if it was some sort of unhealthy food- like prison food or the rotten food he had to scavenge when he was little. But…this feeling _isn't_ Aer – it's a little heavy, somewhat like that heavy thickness of that blonde man, but unlike Aer, it somehow felt…cleaner. And, somehow, it feels familiar…but how? He never felt this before.

He shoved the oddities into the back of his mind as he looked – _really_ looked – around the room again, to see if there were any signs (or clues) to his friends being here. But no one – at least, those he knew that is– is here. He sighed a little, feeling frustrated. _'Oh great'_, he thought, _'I'm alone here.'_

Well, not really alone – he could feel the energy of other people within…wherever he was. But they all felt like…milk. He never felt that before, this…milky feeling.

He knew one thing; it felt different from the Krityans, since they felt kind of like juice. And from what he could feel from Ba'ul, the Entelexia probably felt like…whipped cream.

But the monsters felt…stranger. He couldn't tell what the 'feeling' around them felt like. Each and every one of them is different –almost unique even. It's hard to tell what they all 'feel' like.

The dark haired male shook himself out of his thought. Okay, there must be something seriously wrong with him if he's letting his mind wonder like that.

But there are a couple of things he could list right now, those that make sense:

One – he's in someplace unfamiliar.

Two – his friends could be anywhere at this point, and are possibly in danger.

Three – the people here might be hostile.

And four…well, he actually added this, but it's the truth: he never really took to bed rest. And he never has been, especially on those rare moments where he was ill – sick ill, that is. Not even when he had injuries or inflicted by Poison, Paralyzes or any other thing he may have gotten from the monsters (sneaky little bastards…).

Through monumental effort, he pulled himself out of the bed, slumping to the floor – that didn't feel like the floor he remembers within buildings. He panted heavily from the task, and he felt parts of his body throbbing, reminding him of his state. Crap…that guy really did a number on him. It felt like a miracle that he's still alive after the beating he took…

Slowly, he pushed himself from the floor, using the bed to help him in his task – which was easier said than done. He really did feel like crap…but he had to find the others. He has to make sure that they're okay…wherever they are. The need to find them gave life to his aching limbs, and he managed to pull himself up completely-

But his legs nearly gave out on him. He held onto the curtains for dear life, using them as a support as he tried everything he could _not_ to fall over. He looked over at the small desk next to the bed, at the bag lying on his clothes. He was pretty sure that he had a couple of gels in there he could use.

For the past couple of minutes, it seems that everything he does is pretty much monumental – but that was probably because he was still recovering – as he reached for his bag. He dug around in it to search for the healing gels. When he did, he took them out, looking over the two Lemon Gels he pulled out.

…Well, better than nothing, he thought as he popped one of them into his mouth. He never did like gels much…in fact, he was never a fan of something that's… squishy, or rather slimy. The feel of it sliding in your throat as you swallow… He couldn't help but shudder as he recalled that feeling.

But they're the only things he had since neither Flynn nor Estelle is in the room – or rather, around the place. After popping another gel in his mouth, he felt a bit of his strength returning to him. He looked over his body, almost naked except for a pair of boxer-briefs covering his pelvic region – which he was sure that didn't belong to him – considering the bandages. He wanted to take them off…but he had no idea how bad the wounds are. In the end, he decided to leave them on as he grabbed his clothes – noticing the stitches and patches on them before shrugging – and put them on.

After he picked up his katana, he noticed that Dein Nomos isn't on the desk – or in the room as a matter of fact, when he looked around a bit. _'Did it end up in a different area, like the others?'_ he asked himself, slightly worried. Duke had 'lended' the sword – as in he tossed the sword at his feet like it was nothing but garbage – for some reason or the other. And it's very powerful, being able to control Aer; if anyone else finds it…

He really didn't want to think of the possibilities of what might happen when someone does. Right now, he has to focus on getting out of here. And quick.

Once he secured the bag to his waist, he paused a moment before he dug into his pocket and pulled out the remaining piece of the Blastia he had with him. A frown pulled at the ends of his lips, feeling a knot of sort in his chest. He shook his head angrily and shoved the Blastia piece back into his pocket.

He can't immerse himself into his thoughts now! Nor could he feel self-pity and other negative emotions! He must escape before anyone else comes in the room.

…Though he couldn't help but feel weird without the Blastia on his left wrist. It was, essentially, his source of power. Without it, he's practically helpless – and he knew that. Sure he was strong before obtaining that thing (he never questioned his strength) but with it, he felt…normal. Like anyone else in the world who is able to use them. But it was also the Blastia that made the world as bad as it is today. Maybe he was getting dependent on the Blastia as well…

Oh wait. Crap, he lost himself into his thoughts again.

Yuri slowly approached the door- well, if he could call it that. It seemed to be made of metal, with no door knob or anything that gives it a _feel_ of a door. There wasn't even a lock to boot! So how could he-?

-_he stood before the door along with (), and it automatically opened up on its own. The metal hatches split apart towards both sides, and they went through-_

Yuri held his head, feeling it throb for a moment like it was a headache. He stayed that way for a moment before the sudden headache passed. The dark haired male blinked, confused. What was _that_ about? Was…Was that a memory…? Or a hallucination?

He looked back up at the 'door'. After he approached it, he couldn't help but jump when it opened on its own…like what he saw a moment ago! What the hell!

Yuri shoved the weird occurrence at the back of his mind and poked his head out, looking both ways. The hallways seemed to be made of the same material as the room behind him – they seemed to be made out of metal…and where are the small torches- or, the small lamps? Where is the light coming?

He gritted his teeth a bit – if he thinks too much about it, he's gonna end up with a headache. The dark haired swordsman cautiously walked out of the room, warily looked both ways in case there's anyone walking down the hall…and walked down the path that was to his left.

A while later, after coming across _another_ intersection, he stopped at the middle, sighing. "Okay, it's official – I'm lost," he admitted to himself. Times like this, he honestly had no idea where he was going…but that was probably because this place doesn't have a map. He never was a fan of reading – books, maps, or anything written actually no matter how much Flynn and Estelle tried to get him into it – but he could pretty much memorize a lot of things if he puts his mind to it. Sometimes, it's a must if he thinks that the information is valuable.

But he still has to keep going – whoever owned this place will probably notice that his/her 'guest' isn't in the room no more. As he walked down one of the halls, he kept his eyes peeled and ears open, just in case that something might pop out of nowhere and ambush him. He's had more than enough surprises to last him a lifetime thank you-

"-ink Lord Yuan is planning to do with that Lloyd kid?" He suddenly heard a voice ask when he found himself in a larger room.

Oh crap! He looked around quickly, trying to find a place to hide. Unlike the palace, this place doesn't have any pillars/beams to hide behind! But there were a bunch of large metal box things on the ground. He quickly hid behind them and pressed his back against the metal, literally keeping his head down, because the 'boxes' were only a few feet off the ground. He strained his ears to listen as what seemed like metal is clicking against metal added by two.

"Didn't you know?" Another asked, "That kid is pretty much a key in stopping Cruxis. Lloyd is pretty important you know."

"Well, yeah, but he's a human," the first one pointed out. "And he doesn't seem to realize that he has two half-elves in the group with him."

Cruxis? Half-elves? What-?

"I know," the second said, "But Cruxis is filled with half-elves that gave us others a bad name. It's our duty to make sure that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla return to their normal state."

…Okay, he's pretty sure that he had never heard of 'Sylvarant' or 'Tethe'alla'. But, for some reason, he couldn't help but feel that those names were…familiar.

"Yeah, but how? That woman from Mizuho failed to kill Sylvarant's Chosen, and…" the first one's voice trailed off as they both left the room. He could still hear them, but he left them drift off as he considered the information he had just heard.

'_Okay…I guess this means I'm not in Terca Lumireis anymore,'_ he thought as he rubbed his chin a little, _'And these…people are fighting a group called 'Cruxis', but they're after some guy named 'Lloyd'.'_ He mentally summed up.

But…what the hell are they talking about? Half-elves? Chosen? Chosen of what, exactly? And what's all this about killing 'Sylvarant's' Chosen…?

He knew he didn't have all the answers, but that'll wait. At least he's got the basic idea where he is – sort of – but he needed to be _sure_ first.

Yuri felt out for any other milky feeling that might be heading this way – feeling none, he quickly stood up and quickly ran down the hall the two men were in before.

It wasn't even a few minutes later when he heard something coming down the hall. _'Uh-oh!'_ The dark haired man looked around for another place to hide- a door! He quickly ran in without a thought-

And found himself in what seemed to be a storage room. "…The hell?" He muttered.

"Hey, did you hear something just now?"

'_Fuck!' _He thought as he quickly looked around the room before he hid behind what seemed to be a piece of machinery. He poked his head out a little, narrowing his eyes in the somewhat dim room-

Just as two people walked in, looking around a bit. And Yuri couldn't help but blink a little.

These two…don't look like any knights he had ever seen – or any guildsman in the least. For starters, they both wore somewhat matching uniforms, with a helmet that has five slits in the visor with 'flaps' at the sides of the head (and they don't have that 'Mohawk' on the top like the other knights). They wore some sort of…shirt (only one has red while the other has green) over a dark body fitting uniform with a single belt around their waist, a piece of metal in the middle of their chests. They each had a sword in their sheath strapped to the belt, like some of the other swordsman he saw. They wore a pair of brown gauntlets with a bit of metal on the knuckles and finally, they wore a pair of brown boots with metal at the toes.

Who are these people? Are they…humans? No wait! They don't feel like soup broth- they feel like, milk? Are these the source of milky feeling from earlier?

"Eh, maybe the door had a malfunction," the one in blue shrugged after they looked around.

"I guess so…" the one in red muttered, uncertain.

Yuri forced himself to stay quiet, not moving even an _inch_ as he continued to watch them.

"C'mon, we better head to the cafeteria," the blue one said as he turned to leave, "I'm starved."

"Wait, shouldn't we recalibrate the dimensional portal over the base?" The red one piped up, getting Yuri's attention. "We needed to do so in case that Lloyd kid or the others won't escape back to Sylvarant."

There's that word again, 'Sylvarant'. Then…this place might've been 'Tethe'alla'. But what do they mean by-?

"Don't worry, we've already have a location of the Rheairds after those five stole them," the blue one (okay, he's going to call him Blue and the other Red until he could get their names) assured Red, "But Lord Yuan must've had a plan of sorts since he didn't order us to retrieve them now."

Red tilted his head a bit. "What do you think he's planning to do?"

"Who knows?" Blue shrugged. "C'mon, let's go."

The two soon left the room, leaving Yuri alone once more. He cautiously walked out of his hiding place, looking at the door, waiting until he could no longer hear them – which is kinda hard to do considering that his hearing is sensitive now. But after a few moments, he deemed it safe.

But Yuri didn't walk out of the room just yet. He rubbed his chin a little. Okay, so maybe he's in some sort of 'base' in this 'Tethe'alla' place. Unfortunately, however, that didn't bring him anywhere close to solving what's going on.

And who is this 'Yuan' guy these people kept on mentioning? Although he couldn't shake off why it felt so…familiar, he couldn't help but notice that they also kept on calling him 'lord'. This… 'Yuan' person must have been a person of a higher rank – not as high as 'Master' per say; in other words, he might have been a noble. But what sort of noble would have this many people in this…'base'? That didn't make much sense…unless he's like Ragou and using a guild to do something dastardly.

Well, whatever's going on, he didn't like it. Not one bit. He better find a way out of here – and quick.

Yuri walked out of the storage room-

And he accidentally knocked into someone. "Oof!" Was all he heard as he felt his blood turn cold.

Oh…he didn't even _hear_ this person coming at all!

"Watch where you're-" the person he bumped into cut himself off as he looked over the dark clad swordsman as he looked over another one of those soldiers (only he was wearing green; so Yuri decided to call this one Green). "Hey! Aren't you-!"

Yuri didn't let the guy finish his sentence before he punched the poor man, effectively knocking him out. (Years of practice.)

But that didn't help much when more of them started to appear down the hall and spotted him. "HEY! What's he doing out here?" The – suppose – leader (due to how…extravagant the helmet looked) exclaimed, pointing at him.

'_Crap!'_ He quickly took off down the hall behind him, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

…He's _really_ getting tired of being chased.

He had been running non-stop for a while, trying escape from the men (and he could've sworn he saw some females within that group) who are _still_ pursuing him when he looked back for a moment. Don't these people let up? ! They're as worse as Leblanc and Tweedles A and B! Their determination can be scary (and annoying) sometimes-

He felt a shift in the air. It…It's almost like when Rita, Estelle, the Old Man and Flynn were casting spells-! No, the air is different. And it's coming from-

"Stalagmite!"

He felt the pressure in the ground under him, and he looked down-

And he cried out when LARGE stalagmites (bigger than the ones Rita uses) erupted from the ground and sent him flying. He landed on his right arm (biting back a scream when he felt his arm dislocate), and rolled a little. The dark clad male pushed himself up with his left arm as his right arm hangs useless. Hearing the people still running to him, Yuri forced himself up to continue running-

A bolt of lightning flashed down in front of him, effectively making him stop in his tracks. "Stop evading capture this instant!" He turned to them when the leader exclaimed-

One of their hands was crackling with purple sparks, and Yuri's eyes went wide. Holy crap, they really _can_ use magic! But… he thought as he looked over the people for any sign of a Blastia, yet there isn't, how can they do that if they didn't have a Blastia? He never heard of anyone using Magic Artes, Healing Artes or Strike Artes without one. How is this-?

"Please, surrender peacefully," the leader stepped forward, "We wanted to know where you've come from or how you got near our base. Lord Yuan might be able to explain to you about what's going on, so-"

Yuri drowned out what the man is saying, narrowing his eyes at them as he held his arm. Surrender peacefully? Yeah right, he doesn't trust these people one bit! They may have healed him and dressed his wounds, but-

A sharp pain went through his head. He had to bit his tongue to prevent screaming, but a pained moan was in his throat as he fell to his knee and clutched his head, grabbing a handful of his dark purple hair.

What's going on? Why is his head hurting? ? He had to get away from these people- No, these people are good- No they're not-! Yes they are-!

Shutupshutupshutup! Why isn't it shutting up-?

"-he okay?" He barely heard one of them ask as something reacted for him-

He snapped.

"STAY BACK!" He shouted-

Light- an explosion- the halls again. His arm hurts, his head hurts, and parts of his body hurt. Did he reopen the wounds? Or did they inflict new ones-?

No they wouldn't, they wouldn't hurt you-

JUST SHUT UP!

He leaned against the wall and slid down until he sat on the floor. His heavy pants reminded him of how much he had been running, his right arm throbbing reminds him of his now dislocated arm. Most of his nerves ached from straining them-

And why did he feel so exhausted?

He had felt exhausted before – times when he had to fight against tough enemies, when Belius went nuts, when Estelle tried to heal her and other times – but he had never felt _this_ type of exhaustion. He felt both physically _and_ mentally exhausted. But how could that be?

He barely remembered what happened back there when he felt that terrible headache. And he could barely remember his flight after…something that happened. Why wouldn't his mind let him remember?

Once he evened his breathing (and calmed down a little) he lifted his head and took stock of the room he was in. It was a lot larger than the other rooms he had been in. There seemed to be…some sort of elevators around him, large metal boxes and…some other stuff. Ugh, he's too tired to even think right now. He pushed himself off of the floor and wall and looked around some more. It seemed that the only exit is the door he had gone through…and something at the top, he added when he looked _up_.

For some reason, something was telling him that there's something up there. Something…important. Looking around again, he noticed a piece of…machine next to the elevator. Holding his arm, Yuri slowly made his way over to it. He looked over the thing, not sure what to make of it. Is it…a computer? He wasn't really sure, and trying to tap the blue part of the machine didn't help much – nor reveal much.

Yuri sighed, frustrated. Great, now what does he do? He can't really go back the way he came – those people are probably still after him – and he wasn't sure how else he could get up there-

Wait…of course, the wings!

He can't believe he had forgotten about them!

Yuri wanted to smack himself in the face for forgetting that detail. If he can't use the elevators, than he could FLY up there! Smirking to himself, he pulled them out and he slowly moved his way up there.

He wobbled a bit as he flew up, but he managed to reach the top after a few moments. When his feet found solid ground (and he put his wings away), he looked over his arm, and gingerly touched his shoulder. He hissed, nearly grabbing his arm again in reflex but he forced himself not to. A moan was made in his throat, nearly making him fall to his knee again. Ugh, he didn't know what's worse. Going around with a dislocated arm…

Or the thought of trying to put his arm back into its socket. They both don't sound appealing…but he had to do the latter eventually, especially since he might get into a fight. Being crippled is pretty much a bad thing when you're surrounded or fighting against an armed (or powerful) foe. And all scenarios are going to suck, either way…

He'll think about his problem as soon as he's safe. Yuri looked over the doors in front of him – which seemed bigger than the other ones he had went through – before he walked through them without hesitation.

Again, he stared dumbly at his new surroundings. This…looked a lot stranger than the others. There was some sort of…hatch further in the back, looking large enough that something could fit through it. Something big. There are other types of machines that he couldn't identify…but there is a computer terminal to his right. When he went over it to investigate it, the 'screen' showed a display of…some sort of craft. It looked…bird-like? Bat-like? Whatever the shape is, it seemed sort of…strange.

Once more, Yuri let out a frustrated sigh. This must've been a cruel, sick joke; he had come all this way, JUST so that he'll found himself in a dead end? ? Dammit! He thought as he pounded his fist onto the keyboard.

After a moment, of him cursing his luck (and of how life must've hated him), a beeping noise made the dark purple haired man look up at the terminal, startled. Other sources of information started to pop up on the 'screen', but he wasn't able to read it. He isn't sure what it was doing, but…it's doing _something_.

He heard a noise to his left and looked at the source. The large circular part of the floor in the middle of the room – which he now noticed had some sort of…hatches – started to open up in 3/4ths and…something started to rise up from under…ground? The thing looked like a…aviation-type of animal with its wings tucked in, before the 'wings' opened up. He also briefly notice the door opening up at the far side of the room – along with multiple others – revealing a long hall of sorts.

Now that Yuri had a good look at it, it DOES look somewhat like a bird…or rather an insect because there are four 'wings' on it, 'tailfins' on the lower part of it and…what exactly is that on the top? Is…Is it how a person can steer it? He had never seen anything like it.

…Did he?

No, it couldn't be, he had never-

-_"No Yuri, you can't ride on the Rheaird!"_

"_Aww, but Uncle ()…!"_

"_No! Your father will kill me if anything happened to you."-_

Yuri groaned as another headache flashed through his head.

What's going on…? Is he losing his mind the longer he stayed here? Yeah, Yuri Lowell, the second psychotic man on Terca Lumireis; that's just fan-_fucking_-tastic. What else could go wrong?

"-the man must be in the Rheaird hanger!" He heard a female exclaimed outside of the room.

Yuri bit back a curse. Damn, he spoke too soon!

The dark haired male had no choice but to hop onto the 'Rheaird' – he thinks that's what they call it – and had to look over the thing. He wrapped the ribbons around his sword to his waist (a bit difficult since he used one arm) and placed his left hand over the…handle? It looked kinda like one. But he had a feeling that he needed _both _hands to steer the thing. Grimacing a little, he looked over his right arm. He sighed and placed his hand over his shoulder (using every inch of his willpower not to yell in pain)…and – after breathing out deeply – shoved his shoulder back-

"AUGH!" He fell over the handles, and tried everything he could to stop shaking. Yuri slowly pushed himself off of the handles and struggled to put his right hand onto the other bar and gripped it-

"STOP RIGHT NOW!" The exclamation made Yuri turn back to those people, his right hand twisting the handle bar-

"Hm?" Yuri let out as the 'Rheaird' started to shake under him. There was also some sort of noise coming from…something on the back of this craft. He looked at the source to see a colorful energy coming from it-

"WHOA!" He let out as he held onto the bars tightly as the machine literally blasted off! Holy crap too fast! ! He mentally exclaimed as his eyes started to water from the speed (and a lower part of his lip started to flap a little). He saw light at the end of the tunnel – literally – and soon found himself outside-

And he had to swerve to avoid the strange ball of light he nearly flew into. He started to roll in the air and had to force the bars to a different direction to straighten it out. Then he had to pull it upwards to keep it airborne – he'd rather not fall, thank you!

Once he was sure that he's good – for now – Yuri looked below him, seeing what looked like the ocean flying past him – or is _he _the one flying too fast? – followed by the land, and the forest. He looked back at from where he had come from, but he could only see that strange ball of light over an island. Is the base hidden or something? It seemed reasonable-

The Rheaird suddenly started to cough and sputter under him. He looked back at the machine and noticed an 'arc' on it, with a needle like thing pointing at a face that had a dead expression on it other than a fine expression. And with the way the machine started to quake under him…

He had a feeling that the thing had just ran out of gas.

"Oh FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" He screamed as the machine started to plummet towards the ground at high speed.

He must be REALLY cursed…!

_**~o~**_

Lloyd gazed around at the small forest they had just entered, trailing behind Sheena a little.

Although he knew he was within Tethe'alla, the forest here didn't look any different than the ones he had saw in Sylvarant. …Well, except for a couple of monsters that they had encountered so far. Those are a lot different than the ones they had fought against back home.

"Hey Sheena, how far are we from Meltokio?" He looked over at his blue clad elven friend when he asked the question.

The ninja answered without looking at them, "In about a two day hike since we've left the Fooji Mountains a couple of hours ago."

Two days? ? Aw man…! He couldn't believe that they had to walk for that long! Sure it would get a little boring, but…

He couldn't help but look over at his other friend…who just mindlessly walked with them, her eyes – once a beautiful crystal blue – blood red, her expression (which was normally cheerful) blank. The brunette took in a sharp breath through his teeth and looked away, unable to look at her.

Dammit…he hated himself. He promised that he would protect Colette, promised himself that he'll help her bear her burden…but…

But just yesterday, she was still with them! Yesterday, everything seemed fine! But…but…!

Everything was _not_ fine! The whole time…the whole time they've been lied to! By Remiel…Cruxis…

…And even _him_…

Lloyd still couldn't believe that _he_ was their enemy their whole time! He-He trusted him! Trusted that-that man-! No, he's not really a man, an angel!

How could…how could he…?

"Lloyd."

The brunette jumped a bit and looked over at his teacher, the Professor looking over him. Although the Professor's face seemed blank, almost as emotionless as Colette…

…He could see that she was worried about him. "…Could you manage to focus on what we must do?"

The red clad boy blinked at her sentence, and averted his gaze from her. Right…Right! They came to Tethe'alla to find a way to help Colette; to save her from her Cruxis Crystal. This is something that they could do!

He couldn't afford to think of then – he must think of _now_, the present! For now, they had to focus on saving Colette!

Lloyd looked back at his elven teacher. "Yeah. I think so," he told her.

She gave him a small smile and patted his shoulder a little. "Do your best, alright?"

He nodded. "I will," he said-

"-UUUUUUUUUUUCK-!"

A scream startled almost everyone and they looked up-

Seeing something white and blue fly through the air, towards the part of the forest a couple of ways from them – he could've sworn he saw something bluish-purple got off of the blue/white thing – and a small explosion made the ground under them shake.

"What the hell was that? ?" Genis exclaimed, voicing out what was on their mind.

"Let's check it out!" Lloyd exclaimed as he jogged over to the crash site, ignoring the Professor's protest.

A couple of minutes of running, with the small trail of smoke as the guide, he soon found himself at the crash site…seeing a Rheaird completely destroyed. Seriously, the thing literally crashed onto a cliff wall, smoke coming off of the thing, leaking brown liquid of sorts and bits of it had patches of fire on it.

Yet there wasn't anyone riding on it, to the boy's confusion. "What…?"

"What the heck happened here?" Lloyd nearly jumped when he heard Genis next to him. Where'd he come from?

He noticed the Professor going over to the crashed Rheaird and looked over it. "Hm…it seemed that someone attempted to drive the Rheaird, but crashed here."

"If that's true, then who used it?" Lloyd asked.

"…I'm not sure," the Professor said, "It might be a Renegade recruit or…someone else."

Oh man…he honestly hope it's not one of the Renegades. For all they know, they might really be their enemy as well.

…And it might be possible that there might be people in Tethe'alla that would become their enemies as well-

No wait. Sheena was from here – and, although she was sent here to kill Colette to save this world, she's a good person! Maybe-Maybe there are people who would help them! Yeah! He had to think positive! He couldn't let these thoughts get to him-

"Hm?" He had just turned his head when he noticed Sheena suddenly still. "Sheena-?"

The ninja immediately shushed him.

Wait…he saw this before, back in Sylvarant, where-

He shifted his mahogany eyes around, his hands slowly inching up towards the hilt of the sword dangling on his right. Lloyd didn't dare draw its twin on the left; he wanted to be sure if there _is_ some sort of threat first. If it is, then-

"Sheena! I've found someone hiding in this tree!" That was Corrine!

Lloyd bit back a curse as he turned to the source along with the others, and drew his blades (as he heard someone exclaim a curse) as something black and dark purple jumped out of the tree they had turned to-

He barely saw Sheena charge at the thing before her kick was blocked by…what seemed to be a man with long, dark purple hair, dark eyes…even his clothing is dark; yet, what stunned him was the fact that the dark haired guy just…blocked the kick as if it was NOTHING! He couldn't help but let his jaw drop as the two of them traded punches and kicks; because, well…he had never seen anyone fight like Sheena – to see anyone else managing to match her in fighting was quite a shock itself.

Lloyd snapped out of his stupor when two beams of light were shot at the dark clad man, forcing him and Sheena to jump away. The red clad boy quickly jumped into action and drew his two swords, charging at the man.

The young brunette barely saw the man drew his own sword – a katana with a white hilt – and they locked blades, with his own swords in an 'x' position. The two split apart, circled each other – as his mahogany orbs looked over the dark clad man as the man's grey orbs seemed to be doing the same – then crashed back together, as Lloyd did everything he could to break through the man's defense. But it seemed the man is skilled – yet something told Lloyd that he's nowhere near Kratos' level (on how strong the traitor REALLY is) – and blocked every swing the boy threw at him.

The two of them broke off again-

And the man winced before he fell to his knee as he held his side. Lloyd blinked. Did…Did he actually do damage to this guy? No…something didn't seem right. If…if this guy is their enemy, then why didn't he try to go for the Professor or Genis? Or Colette for that matter?

Was he really hiding in the tree to ambush them? …Or maybe this guy thinks that _they_ are his enemies?

Lloyd took a step forward. "Hey-"

The man held up his sword at the seventeen year old, his grey eyes flashing steel as he glared up at him, panting. Then they shifted over to two things behind him – where he had a feeling that the Sages were on his right while Colette was on the left – then back at him. Lloyd couldn't help but be a little…_unnerved_ by the amount of mistrust and suspicion this guy had on them.

Although this guy seemed…dangerous, the brunette couldn't really ignore someone in need, enemy or no. "H-Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Lloyd!" He ignored Genis as he slowly approached the man.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, turning his blades the other way so that they would point behind him, "We…well, we're not having any luck with strangers lately; or rather, with people we thought we know but really didn't- err. AUGH!" Lloyd dropped his swords to hold his head. "I suck at this!"

Okay Lloyd, you can do this, he thought as he rubbed his temple. He _had_ find a way to help this guy- No wait, what if he's faking it? Or- AUGH! He needed to get his thoughts straight-

"AUGH!" The brunette returned to his attention to the dark clad man-

Sheena held onto the back of his dark grey vest, his arms limb and the katana lying on the ground. "Wha- Sheena! Did you really have to do that?" Lloyd asked as he collected his swords and jogged over to the young woman.

"Hey, at least I managed to knock him out," she said as she carefully laid the man onto his side.

Now that the young boy is closer, Lloyd looked over the man. He tilted his head a little. _'Huh, he looks a bit strange,'_ he thought – yeah, everything about him is…strange. He had never seen anyone dressed like this before. …Or rather anyone dressed like this in Sylvarant. He looked over at the ninja. "Hey Sheena, have you ever seen this guy?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

Hearing the small bell ring, the brunette looked over at the small Summon Spirit as he sniffed the man. "…He smells funny," he squeaked out.

He blinked. "Funny how?"

"I don't know," Corrine said, "he just does!"

"This Mana…" Again, Lloyd nearly jumped when he noticed the Professor suddenly next to him. Do elves have a weird ass habit of popping up out of nowhere-?

Wait. "What about it, Professor?" He blinked.

She stared at the man long and hard for a moment…then shook her head. "It's nothing."

Lloyd let out a confused grunt at that. But before he could ask her again-

"Hey…are these patches?" The brunette looked back at the younger elf as he held up the man's arm-

Hey…now that Genis mentioned it…yeah, he could see a corner of a patch under his sleeve.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes and laid the man onto his back and – after trying to figure out how to open his shirt when he took off the belt and vest – pulled the shirt back-

"…!" He was pretty sure Sheena and Genis gasped along with him when they saw his bandaged chest – there were even patches of blood seeping through them, even at the side where he saw the man clutch at before!

"What-What the hell happened to him?" He couldn't help but ask out-loud as he looked over them.

"It looked as if he had gotten into a fight or something…" Genis noted as he looked over them himself.

Okay, that settles it! Lloyd immediately turned to look at the Professor. "Professor Sage, can you heal him?"

"Lloyd-"

"Professor, please!" Lloyd interrupted her, "This guy looked like he's been through hell and back! For all we know, this guy might've been a traveler."

"Or, he might have been an agent of Cruxis or the Renegades sent out to track us down," she pointed out.

The brunette faltered. "We-Well, yeah, but still…"

"I could understand your concern," she said, "but at this point, I'm not willing to trust complete strangers."

Lloyd almost slumped over in defeat. Yeah, the Professor does make a point…But…

He looked up at the orange clad woman. "Colette would've wanted this…" He said, softly.

The silver haired woman jerked a little, though she made a stern look at him. Lloyd stared back at her, unflinching.

He wasn't sure how long they have been staring at each other in this staring contest – barely aware of Genis and Sheena watching them, and Colette standing by them and looking at nothing – but, to be honest, he couldn't stand down when there's someone injured (enemy or ally) or someone in trouble. It may have been Colette rubbing off on him, but he didn't think he could find it in himself to ignore someone in trouble.

A couple of moments later, the Professor sighed. "Alright, I'll heal him. But," she added as she looked over the dark clad man, "we'll need to keep an eye on him. Learn everything we can from this man."

"You mean interrogate him like we did with Dorr?"

The Sage siblings stared at him. "…What?"

"Lloyd! You just used a big word! And used it correctly!" Genis exclaimed, amazed.

"Shut it Genis!"

The Professor immediately shook her head. "Yes Lloyd, like what you've said," she answered his previous question. She looked back at the man. "Until we know what was going on, he'll become our prisoner."

Lloyd nodded solemnly. "Okay."

_**~o~**_

"Yo Sebastian!"

"Yes Master Zelos?"

"Do you mind getting something for me and my lady friend?" He asked, gesturing to a young noble woman he had his arm around. She let out a giggle as he added, "The two of us are quite parched from our activities today."

"Very well sir," the older man nodded, "Shall I bring the usual?"

"Please do," the red haired Chosen grinned before they both sat down on the couch.

"Master Zelos?" Sebastian was by them a few minutes later.

Zelos immediately picked up the different tone in the man's voice as he drank his tea. "What is it?"

"There is someone calling for you in your room."

Oh great. It must have been one of the Renegades; and right when he was getting some alone time with one of his hunnies…

With a huff, he stood up from his couch. "Don't worry my darling, I will be back," he slid his finger under her chin, making a grin that would make _any_ girl swoon.

"Oh, Master Zelos…!"

Making a grin once more, he walked out of the room and towards his room. Once he's alone behind the door, he dropped his carefree look, making it into a more serious one then he headed over to the table where he had that walkie-talkie one of the members of the Renegades had left him with.

Picking it up, he turned it on and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Zelos."_

Oh damn, its Yuan. "Hey Yuan, how you doin'?"

"_Don't use that buddy tone with me," _the Renegade leader snapped, _"I had to wait for an entire night – an _entire **night** _for me to call you!"_

"Well gee, sor-_ry_," the red haired male rolled his eyes, "I had no idea that you wanted to ask me out for a date."

"… …_If you weren't the Chosen, I would've came over to your house and kill you with my bare hands,"_ the man on the other line growled.

"Hey, hey! I was just kidding!" He tried to coax. "A lot of stuff happened over at my end." He didn't want the other man to know that the woman, Pronyma, had paid him a 'visit' when he was out hanging with his hunnies last night.

The Renegade leader growled a little. _"Fine. There's something I need you to do Zelos."_

"Oh? What's that?"

"_There would be a group of people from the declining world of Sylvarant heading towards this city."_ Zelos raised his brows in surprised. People from that world are coming here? Why? _"They had a little…errand they had to do to help with their friend. Their friend is a young, blonde haired girl in white with a jewel on her chest. If possible, I wanted you to lead the group over to the Rheairds on Fooji Mountains; in the meantime, I'll send the members of the Renegades over there to plant the trap."_

Zelos' eyebrows shifted to that of confusion. "Oh? What do you intend the trap to be for?"

"_Let's just say that there's one person in particular in that group that I needed." _The answer is vague, and something told the Chosen of Tethe'alla that there might be more to it than that.

But Zelos nodded all the same. "Alright. I'll do that."

"_Good. I will see you later."_ The line on the other end cut off, ending the call.

Zelos lowered the walkie-talkie after he turned it off. Hm, strange. Pronyma said that Cruxis wanted someone out of a group of Sylvarant; and now Yuan wanted someone out of that group as well?

What the hell is going on in that declining world? Did Sheena fail to kill their Chosen? Although he knew that she wouldn't be able to do it – not to sound mean or anything – but he was also worried about what would happen to her if she _did_ fail. No one wanted Tethe'alla to have its prosperity to end after 800 years. But…

A part of him felt that it doesn't seem fair that this world is taking away the only thing that could keep that world ravaged by the Desians from having prosperity itself. But, of course, life is not kind, nor fair, to its people. Zelos had learned that ever since…THAT day.

The red haired man gritted his teeth and slammed the small machine onto the table. Augh, he _hated_ to remember that day! He hated feeling so insignificant, so…_useless_.

The twenty-two year old stalked out of the room. As much as he hated his fate, his…_title_, he had to hang in there for his sister. He didn't care if he died; this world would be better off without him – they deserve a good Chosen, like Seles.

The sooner that either of the groups – Cruxis, Renegades, he didn't care – could get his title of Chosen removed the better. That's all that mattered to him now.

Before he entered the living room, back with his hunny, he placed his carefree mask back on in an instant. "Sorry for the long wait, beautiful. Now," he purred as he rubbed the underside of her chin again, "where were we?"

* * *

**UN! Finally got this finished! Sorry if you had to wait for a while.**

**And look! Yuri had run into Lloyd's group – though not in a very, pleasing way – and Zelos made a cameo! Don't worry, everyone's favorite (or maybe not everyone) red haired Chosen will share the 'screen time' with the others soon. When that will be, not even I know.**

**Okay, I've never been that badly injured before – or had gotten any of my limps dislocated – but I hope I got some of the things right. Along with the characters of Lloyd, Raine, Genis, Sheena and Zelos right; again, it's been a WHILE since I played Tales of Symphonia. The only guide to I had to their characters are a couple of fanfictions I've read. But I digress.**

**Please leave a review! And the flames will STILL be used to burn the people I hate.**


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, here we go people. Chapter six is here!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

There are a lot of things that Raine doesn't know about.

She may have known Sylvarant's history, researched their ruins, and valuable things needed to survive in the world – mathematics, chemistry, science, writing, and, of course, history – that would be rather mundane in a world ravaged by the Desians.

However, when she agreed to escort Colette through her journey to regenerate the world – and was briefed on the fate of the Chosen if they were able to unlock all of the seals and reached the tower – she found herself stunned by things she knew little about.

Such as how the Exspheres in the Desian Human Ranches were _really_ made, the effects of a type of sickness the Chosen had to endure after they unlocked a seal, the existence of another world…and the true nature of the religion that had been around for 4000 years, as well as the identity of one of their companions.

But, as she looked over the strange young man with dark violet hair and black clothing, she was even puzzled by this man. This man had come from nowhere – much like Kratos – yet he doesn't seem like he's from Sylvarant. Nor did it seem he's from the prospering world of Tethe'alla, for that matter.

And besides learning his name, they weren't able to get a lot out of him.

Looking back at the man – whose name is Yuri Lowell – and seeing Lloyd attempting to converse with him (again) since earlier today, she could still remember the events that took place after she redressed his wounds…

_Earlier…_

Once she was done, she looked over the man once more. She healed some of his more serious wounds – which was just a couple, thank goodness – but left the minor ones alone. Those could heal on their own with time.

She turned to the ninja. "Sheena, bring some rope."

"Right," she nodded before she dug around in their bag.

"Why'd you need rope for?" She nearly sighed in exasperation at Lloyd's question. After they had come all this way, he's still not one of the sharpest tools in the shed; well, in regards to mental education that is…

But she answered it, all the same – teacher/student relationship and all. "It's to restrain his hands so that he won't try anything funny." She muttered a quiet 'thank you' to Sheena after she took the rope from the second oldest female. She later instructed Lloyd to retrieve the sword and its sheath as she wrapped the rope around his wrists. The female half-elf noticed that the wrist on his left had a rather thick tan line around it…as if he had worn something there previously; the small yet long, shallow cut on the side indicated that it was perhaps forcibly removed.

Once the man was tied, he was placed onto the side on the ground, over a mat; she also restrained his feet – because you may never know what this man might be hiding. She also confiscated the man's bag, also just in case – she'll look through it later, she told herself.

After handing the bag to her brother, the older half-elf looked over him. As in really looked over him, biting her lower lip as her blue eyes scanned the man, occasionally shifting towards his face. For some reason something about him is…strange; and she couldn't put her finger on what it is. Was it the fact that his Mana is strange…?

Yes, as a half-elf, she could sense who's who just by their mana signature alone – if they are human, elf, half-elf…even a quarter-elf at times (but those are REALLY rare, since there are a lot of people who are afraid of – or hate – half-elves to even love or make children with them) – but this man's felt…strange. …It was as if this man hadn't tapped into his magical essence until now, or something.

It could be that…or the fact that the man had managed to fend them off without an Exsphere. Now that she remembered, when Kratos confronted them at the Tower of Salvation and revealed who and what he is, the Exsphere and Key Crest he had are gone. It's possible that the Exsphere is a fake…

But where did this man gained his strength? She thought, her eyes narrowing. Not even a few minutes in the group that she was already suspicious of him – even when this man is their prisoner. This man might be an agent of Cruxis, like she previously thought…or he could be a young recruit of the Renegades that had accidentally went too far away from the base…

Either way, she's not willing to trust the man – not until she has answers.

"So how is he Raine?" She turned to her younger brother, who glanced at the dark purple haired man before back at her.

He also knew what the man is – and he seemed a bit amazed – but she shook her head slightly. No, they couldn't reveal what he is, she 'said' with her eyes, but they will later.

Genis nodded slightly in understandment.

She looked back at the man. "He'll be fine," she informed him – and the others, "Most of the wounds he has are pretty minor, and he had a couple of major ones. It's like you said Genis, it looked as if he had gotten into a fight earlier, and someone was healing him before we met him."

Lloyd sighed in relief. "That's good…"

The orange clad woman smiled a little at her student and returned her gaze onto the man-

Wait. Did his eye twitched just now?

The teacher narrowed her eyes. "…We should stop here for lunch," she decided, standing up, "If anyone else objects."

"Are you sure Raine?" Genis asked.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Lloyd grinned, "I'm pretty starving here; we literally didn't eat breakfast you know."

…Yes, that is true. They were in a hurry since they don't know if agents of Cruxis might be looking for them. And although she's still a bit uneasy of being in the forest – or with a possible threat – they probably wouldn't have enough strength if they were in a fight and too hungry to even defend themselves.

"Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do."

As Genis was setting up the pots and pans, Lloyd getting some firewood, and Sheena and Corrine finding some water, for once Raine was glad that they hadn't given her a job that requires something…cooking related. She would be able to look after this man and – if possible – be able to question him before the others arrive. But that's only if the man would wake up soon.

When that would be, she hopes it's soon.

She continued to stare at him for a long while, oblivious to what her younger brother is doing. The silver haired woman wanted to see if the man had been awake a while ago, and was faking being asleep. So far, he seemed unresponsive. Raine decided to try a different tactic – even though it's childish…and quite corny when she thought about it. She lifted up her hand and pinched his nose and covered his mouth.

It wasn't long until the man started to grimace, scrunching his eyes as he couldn't get any oxygen in his lungs. His muffled grunts are heard as he tried to breathe until he snapped his gray orbs open and stared into her blue eyes.

Raine tilted her head a little, as she noticed that there's a ring of green around the pupil – she was only able to notice as she had a close look. And although the combination of gray and green seemed…odd, she pushed that out of her mind as she released his nose and mouth, allowing him to breathe again.

She merely sat on the ground, her arms crossed as she watches the man getting the air back into his lungs. Afterwards, he glared up at her.

"What the hell! You could've killed me!" Huh, that's the first time she had heard his voice, she mentally noted, unaffected by the steel-y glare as he tried to get up-

He blinked and tried to look behind him, his eyes somewhat wide as he saw that his hands and feet were tied up. He even tugged on them a little. The dark haired man groaned, falling back onto his 'bed'. "This bites…" She heard him mutter.

The young woman rolled her eyes at the comment before she grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up so that he was sitting up, and looking at her. "Now listen," she began, "We have a lot of questions that we wanted answered. And if you tired anything funny, there are a couple of people who are capable of taking you down."

Not really a lie, but it's also not the truth – they barely beat Remiel, and weren't a match for Kratos and that man Yggdrasill, they had no idea how strong this man really is. For being able to hold his own against Lloyd and Sheena – and without an Exsphere on him as well – is a little shocking (and disturbing) in itself; but she didn't want the man to know that, giving him an impassive look to his annoyed look.

The two of them had a stare off for several minutes – much like she and Lloyd did earlier, but longer. Neither side is backing down in a battle of will.

"I got the firewood!" The two jumped a little and looked at the source, seeing Lloyd came into the area with some wood and sticks under each arm. The young brunette then did a take. "Hey! You're awake!" He exclaimed as he dropped the wood – making her palm her face in exasperation – to run over to them.

"You weren't hurt too badly, were you?" Lloyd asked as he grabbed the man and turned him a couple of times. Raine decided to help the man (for now) by removing the young human from the young man.

"Lloyd, don't bother the man," she said to him, "He hasn't been awake that long, so don't bother him too much."

"I-I know that Professor!" The young man somewhat stuttered, "I just wanted to see if he's okay. Y-You did get all of his wounds, did you?" He asked, to change the subject.

"Yes Lloyd, but the minor ones have to heal on their own," she told him as she crossed her arms while giving him a bored look.

"You sure? You _are_ okay, right?" He asked the man, looking at the man.

She turned back at the dark haired man, just in time to see him do a take in surprise. "Uh…Yeah," he nodded, "Little sore, but nothing that I can't pull through," he added, shrugging uncaringly.

"Anyways, my name is Lloyd," the professor decided to watch the two interact as the red clad boy introduced himself, sitting on the ground with them. "And yours?" He asked, tilting his head a little.

The dark haired man raised his brow a little, as if wondering why he was being nice to him. After a couple of moments of staring the boy down, the dark clad man sighed. "Yuri. Yuri Lowell."

"Yuri?" The three of them turned back to Sheena as she came in with buckets of water, Corrine by her feet. "Doesn't that mean 'lily' or 'glass' or something?"

"Eh," at the corner of her eye, she saw the man – Yuri – shrug uncaringly again, "It's not really my fault that I was named that. I never really knew why, but I didn't question it."

Huh, the man is quite…aloof for the lack of describing his personality. But if she recalled, 'Yuri' is also another word for 'George'. And doesn't 'Lowell' mean 'young wolf' in the old language…?

She pushed the thoughts out of her head when Lloyd stared to introduce the others while Genis cooked their brunch, the young human trying to converse with the young man the whole time…

_Now…_

The silver haired half-elf sighed again, shaking her head at Lloyd's failed attempt - for what felt like a millonth time - to converse with the strange man. It's already dark, and for some reason, Lloyd was adamant on talking to him.

They had already established that he isn't a threat – but one couldn't be too careful in this hostile world – and decided to take him with them while heading for Meltokio; untying his feet and hands, but still confiscated his sword and belongings. They didn't say where they were going (she had to shake her head at Lloyd before he could voice it out) but Yuri, again, just shrugged uncaringly. As if he was unsurprised by the hostility they were giving off.

Yet while they were on their way, Yuri kept looking over at Colette – or more specifically, her wings (she seemed to take them out and pull them back in randomly. It was as if she felt threatened by the unfamiliar man). He even looked wary of the blonde, to her confusion. Why he would stare at Colette's wings, or be wary of her, she'll never understand. It was as if…

"Hey Raine?" Her brother's voice knocked her out of her thoughts, and she looked over at the young half-elf. He held a bowl of stew – from whatever rations that they had managed to save (and pilfer from the Renegade base during their escape) – for her, and she gently takes it. "You still worried about that Yuri guy?"

As she takes a spoonful of the broth into her mouth, she took the moment to think. Yes, she is still worried about the man – they weren't sure if this man posed a threat to them or not. "Hm, yes, admittedly I am," she answered his question, "There are still many things we don't know about him. He kept looking at Colette – but he looks a bit, wary of her. It was as if he didn't know what to make of her…or if he had heard of her and isn't sure how to proceed. But, I'll be guessing that it's the former," she rubbed her chin a little when she said that.

"How come?" Genis asked, pouring some more stew into other bowls – except for Colette. In her state, she's unable to eat any type of food for a long, long while.

She looked at her brother, in the eye. "He wears an outfit that is not like any other Sylvaranti. And, from his behavior, it feels as if he doesn't know about the locations of Tethe'alla – something that a Tethe'allan like Sheena would know about."

He blinked. "If so…then what does that mean Raine?"

The silver haired woman sighed a little through her nose, and looked over at Yuri – Lloyd returning to him with bowls of soup in each hand. When he took the bowl from Lloyd, she answered, "I'm not sure."

Something was telling her that there's something more going on. And, eventually, she'll find out.

_**~o~**_

_The black abyss… He's back in it again._

_Once more, he warily looked around. Again, he felt a presence; the malicious, otherworldly one._

_He panted heavily to calm his beating heart, trying to find the source of presence. But it was like finding a needle in a haystack. It's so dark, he could barely see in front of him-!_

_He felt it. It's behind him!_

_He turned on his heel-_

_His blood ran cold._

_No…_

_Before him…before him are the bodies of his friends. All of them…all of them are dead…!_

_Estelle, Flynn and Karol's eyes…they're open and-and blank. Clouded, glassy… filled with death! Repede lying in a pool of his own blood! The others…tried as he might, he was unable to look away at the mutilated corpses of Judy, Rita and the Old Man – Flynn's charming lieutenant and Apple Head included. But-But who could've-_

_He again let out a surprised yelp as something wrapped around his body and pulled him into the air. He tried to struggle out of the hold, and screamed as it squeezed him – he could hear his bones making sickening crunches. His screams intensified as it tightened, and tightened some more, feeling sharp points of his bones jabbing into his organs.._

_Then, as his voice becomes horse and blood flowing out of his mouth, he heard a voice whisper to his ear:_

"You're next…abomination…"

_He felt his bone fragment puncture his heart-_

Yuri bolted up from his mat, his forehead coated in cold sweat. His own body shook horribly as he panted heavily and wildly looked at his surroundings.

Wh-Where-? Where is he-?

Memories came back at him, and he hung his head, taking slow, deep breathes to try to calm himself. Wh-What the hell was that about…? That-That was the second time he had a dream about that presence – it was as if it had a sick pleasure of torturing him. Killing him in his own dreams! This time, despite his efforts to forget about that particular detail, it decided to torture him by making him see the bodies of his friends/companions. As if it sensed his anxiety on the whereabouts of them.

And, he thought as he unconsciously drew his knees to his chest and held his hands over his head, why did that voice call him…abomination? Why did that word – that one word – bother him so much? And why did it say that 'he shouldn't have been born'? It was-It was as if it knew something about him that he doesn't!

Why? ?

"Hey, are you okay?" The dark haired man blinked and looked at the source. The source being that red clad, brown haired kid that kept trying to talk to him all day – to his mild annoyance.

He let out a small, confused grunt, before he looked around the 'camp'. The two siblings were sound asleep, near each other. So are that purple garbed woman and that weird…fox thing with her – the thing even felt weird; not like a monster or an Entelexia. But the only one awake, besides them, was that Colette girl. Her blank, red eyes-

The image of Estelle, Flynn and Karol's soulless eyes flashed into his head. He shook his head to try to get rid of the image and forced himself to look at his feet. It was a lot safer to look at.

"Yuri?" Oh, right. The kid asked him a question.

He let out a long, defeated-like sigh. "Yeah," he said softly. "It was just a nightmare."

"…Oh." He heard a shuffle of clothing, and looking at him in his peripheral vision, saw that Lloyd had sat down next to him-

The dark haired man blinked. "What's with the block of wood and the knife?" The question left his lips before he could stop himself.

"Huh? Oh this?" The kid asked, looking over the two items. "Well…I carve, from time to time. It's a little hobby that I've developed while growing up; my dad's a blacksmith and all."

Yuri raised a brow. "Your old man's a blacksmith?"

"Actually, he's not really my dad," his answer surprised the ex-knight. "He's a Dwarf, and he adopted me."

Adopted…

"…Did, something happen to your parents?" he asked carefully – which was odd for himself. He would normally just say bluntly 'did they abandon you or something?' But something prevented him from doing so – yet he sounded curious.

The kid frowned a little, and looked down at the wooden block. Okay, that seemed to be a touchy issue; but before he could try to change the subject-

"They were killed."

Yuri's eyes went wide at the answer. "…Oh." He simply said.

"Yeah," the kid nodded.

For a while, the two of them sat there in silence. Well, except for the crackle of the fire; but that's beside the point. Then, he asked, "Were they killed by monsters or something?"

His sensitive ears heard his hair rustle as he shook his head. "No. They were killed by…" He trailed off, making the dark haired man look over at the brunette male, and he looked as if he was unsure if he should continue or not.

But he had a feeling of what – or _who_ – killed this kid's parents. Yet he was unsurprised; people…kill people. It was within human nature after all.

"I think I've got the idea of who killed your parents," Yuri said, "But how old were you when they, well, you know." He purposely didn't say 'killed' or 'died'.

When the kid stared at him for a while, he made a soft sigh, looking at the wooden block at first, then at the night sky. "I…barely remember that night. But I do know that I was…maybe three when it happened. And, I…"

Yuri frowned a little. "You don't have to push yourself to tell me," he told him. When the kid looked at him, he looked up at the sky as well, "I'm not one to pry; so, just tell me whenever you feel ready, alright?"

He could feel the kid stare at him for a while. Then, at the corner of his eye, the kid nodded. "Alright," he said.

After another moment of silence, juts idly hearing the kid carve into the block, Yuri spoke up. "You know, you're kinda lucky to have someone to call a 'mom' or 'dad'. Me? Not so much."

The kid paused in his work, and looked over at him. "…You were an orphan?" He just nodded. "So what happened to your parents Yuri?"

Huh, for some reason, this is the longest that he had ever talked to the kid. Maybe it was the fact that he kinda resembled Karol that made him talking – that, or something else.

But he shrugged. "I dunno. I could barely remember them."

"…How old were you to, you know, barely remember them?"

The kid's question made Yuri pause. "…Well, I…barely remember what my mom looked like. I figured that I was maybe a baby when…she died." Or something he mentally added, because, frankly, he isn't entirely sure about that.

He didn't think he told anyone else (and not even Flynn, the dude's his best friend and everything!), but…he couldn't remember anything from before he was six. From what he heard, that, most likely, something may have happened to cause him to not remember. A traumatic event, maybe; but for some reason, a part of him felt that it was something more. But what?

"…So you were really small then?" The kid's question knocked him out of his thoughts.

Yuri didn't trust his voice to answer, so he just nodded.

Again, silence went by them.

"So what sorts of hobbies do you have?" The kid asked, carving into the block again.

Yuri glanced at him, then at the sky. "Well…I don't have much of a hobby." Somehow, fighting tough opponents didn't feel as much as a hobby – even when he liked the raw challenge of it. "But, I kinda like to cook."

"You cook?"

"Yeah," the dark haired male nodded, "I had to learn to do so since…there's this guy I know – he's _very_ bad at it." And that's the truth; Yuri thought that Flynn's taste buds may have shriveled up and died when he said that they tasted fine. And he kept denying that the food he cooks tastes _horrible_; even when others say so!

"Oh, so this guy is like the Professor?" The kid asked as he looked over the silver haired woman.

Yuri blinked. "She's bad at it as well?"

"Yeah," and the kid visibly _shuddered_ as he said, "I can never get the taste of her cooking out of my mouth for a _week_!"

Wow. Just, wow.

"So, what kind of food do you make, mostly?" The kid asked, in an effort to change the subject.

Yuri made a faint smile. "Well…"

_**~o~**_

If she wanted to, she could've smiled. Smiled at the sight of her friend Lloyd and Mr. Yuri talking to each other; it was as if they were old friends.

But…in this state, all she could do is watch. The others didn't realize it, but she's still listening, and watching them. There are some parts that she didn't remember, but she could clearly remember one thing.

Lloyd…he's going to save her.

She thought-She honestly thought that, when she unlocked the final seal, that was it. She…will die; she thought that by sacrificing her life - like the Chosen is suppose to - Sylvarant will be saved.

But she was shocked when she found out that everything that she was taught, everything she believed in…

It was a lie.

She knew that Remiel isn't her real father; after unlocking the first seal…she didn't see the warm, tenderness all fathers have for their children. Remiel didn't have that, even when he said 'his beloved daughter'.

She didn't question why she had to suffer after breaking the seals, slowly losing her humanity. She honestly thought - believed - that it was what it was meant to become an angel.

But…after she released the final seal, she didn't know what to think.

Somehow…somehow Colette felt that Remiel lied, saying that if it is her will to save Tethe'alla, then Cruxis will make sure that Tethe'alla won't suffer the same fate as Sylvarant.

Yet, she felt shocked when she heard that Cruxis is filled with-with liars. For four thousand years…they've been lied to…

But somehow…she felt that Martel is real. She could hear her voice, every now and then; telling her that everything will be okay.

Despite her state, her belief…she believed in Lloyd. Lloyd had never broken his promise – even when he forget some things, he's always sincere in his apologies. And she believed in Martel.

Colette smiled on the inside.

Everything is going to be alright.

* * *

**Okay…not much action, so this is somewhat…filler-ish…? *shrugs* Oh well.**

**So, Yuri is slowly opening up to Lloyd – for reasons that not even he knows – but it'll take a while for the sarcastic swordsman to open up to the others. Especially Colette, because the state she is now. But he's going to take things slow, and gather information in pieces.**

**This chapter felt short, compared to the last two chapters, but I figured I've made you guys wait long enough. **

**By the way, did I make the characters a bit OOC in this? If so, then let me know in a message or a review.**

**Leave a review my lovely fans! Flames will still be used to burn Rodyle, Vharley, and Garista. (Yes, I've watched the Tales of Vesperia movie; I don't like the bastard.)**


	7. Chapter 7

I think I figured out my special skill in fanfictions. But I won't put that in in this new chapter.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. The only time I would own something like them is when pigs fly.**

* * *

In all honesty, Yuri thought that his jaw might've fallen off as he stared up at the city wall, along with some of the others – but not in the same reason as his.

Sure it's as large as Zaphias, but there's one thing that made the two cities different.

This place doesn't have a barrier around it!

Of course he was a bit surprised when they first entered Yormgen – but that was until they found out that the town in the desert is nothing but an illusion; the real one had been destroyed _long_ before any of them were born.

Yet it was still shocking to not see something he had become so accustomed to while growing up to be, well, not there around the city.

The dark haired male drowned out the group's conversation as he thought back to the past couple of days. After the conversation he had with the kid – Lloyd, his name is Lloyd – it somewhat became a routine for them to have idle conversations. He didn't know why, but…it felt easy for him to talk to Lloyd. Maybe it was his previous thought that he reminded him of Karol – the two of them seemed…innocent; or that they knew the evils in the world but they didn't know to what extent. Or something; he really didn't know.

But as he talked with Lloyd, he could feel the eyes of the silver haired woman staring at his head. It was as if she was trying to dissect him, trying to figure him out; he had to admit, he felt a bit unnerved.

The purple clad woman, he didn't mind – he was kinda impressed to see another person as agile as Judy. But – on the other hand – the fox thing with her creeped him out to no end. It kept…staring at him – he even heard it growl during their breaks.

Yet the only person who creeped him out the most is that girl in white, Colette – at least that's what he heard them call her. The girl is…well, like a statue at times. He wasn't even _sure_ if she's alive – she didn't eat, sleep or do anything remotely…human-like. She just…stands there. He really didn't want to get near her – something told him that something bad would happen to him if he tries to do so – and he didn't try to talk to her. Another thing that made him uneasy about her is…is the fact that she also has wings. Much like his and that white clad guy that attacked him – but her wings are colored pinkish-fuchsia instead of his bluish-purple ones (and of the man's purplish-pink ones).

Although the girl creeped him out, from what he heard from some of the others, she wasn't always like this. He wasn't sure what had happened to make her like that, but he didn't ask. He felt that they don't completely trust him yet – but that was understandable. If some person just, randomly dropped in on him and his group, they wouldn't trust this person first thing as well. He didn't give them a reason to trust him and they didn't give him a reason to trust them. But that was fine; he's just going to hang around them until he managed to find the others. As selfish as that sounds, it's important that he had to find the others – to ease his anxiety that they're okay or not. But he honestly hoped that they're alive. Yes, even Flynn's posse.

The last of this rather strange bunch is the 'Professor's' younger brother. From his size and structure, he must've been the same age as Karol. Yuri had to admit, for being young, he's pretty smart (maybe as smart as Rita; but on the other hand, he had never been one for studying) much like the older woman. He barely talked to the kid, but he kinda shared his sympathies since he's a better cook than his sister (somewhat reminding Yuri of his and Flynn's compatibility on cooking). However, he absolutely refused to call him by his name; c'mon, who in the hell would name their kid 'Genis'? It was just a letter change away from making him a social pariah. So, last night, he approached him and flat out told him, "You know, I'm just gonna call you 'Gene'."

He left it at that, even at the kid's confused look.

All and all, these people are a rather, colorful bunch. But he and his friends are probably much like them in a way-

"Yuri."

"Huh?" He looked down at Lloyd, who tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"C'mon, we're going inside," he said, gesturing to the others walking in-

Yuri blinked. "Hey, where's that other girl and her creepy pet?"

"Oh, you mean Sheena and Corrine? They left."

The dark haired male nodded. "Right."

The two followed the siblings and the unresponsive blonde into the city. Since it was pretty much the afternoon, he was unsurprised to see a lot of people out and about, going to shops, gossiping, a lot of things people would do in a city like this. He would be not surprised if this place also had the 'poor' district as well.

After looking around unimpressed, he looked over at Lloyd. "So, why exactly did you guys come here?"

The brunette male looked up at him for a moment, then looked away, as if unsure if he should answer. He took a glance at the Professor – Yuri couldn't help but glance over at the silver haired woman, seeing her look around with Gene and back at Lloyd – then looked back at him. "Well-"

"Hey!" They both looked over at Gene, looking over a-

Oh crap.

"Woah, it's a dog!" Lloyd grinned as the dog went over to them. "Cool! So they also have them on this side too!" He added as he petted the dog.

Although Yuri wanted to ask what he meant by 'this side' but he was doing everything he could not to move as he watched the dog curiously look over the others before the dog strode over to him and sniffed. He admittedly stiffened at that motion, frozen solid like a statue. But all the dog did was give him a look before trudging over to the Colette girl – who had her wings out at the moment – and sniffed her. The girl merely looked at it-

And _kicked_ it away! Without a second thought, too! Amidst his shock, the others gasped.

"C-Colette? !" The one who looked the most shocked was Lloyd. "And she used to love dogs…"

A cackle made everyone – except Colette – turn to the source-

…What the crap is this guy wearing? He had purple, spikey hair flowing to the back, red tinted glasses – reminding him somewhat of the foot soldiers from Leviathan's Claw – a strange…green thing over his orange(?) outfit and…are his ears really pointed?

The man was clapping, and his grin…somehow unnerved him. "That's quite a violent young lady," he remarked – even the sound of his voice made him cringe. "How marvelous." The man walked down the stairs and started to walk by them-

He paused by Yuri and looked over him. The dark haired male glared back at him, unflinching. The odd man just…chuckled after a bit. "How interesting…"

"Huh…?" Yuri let out softly, watching the man leave the city. He raised a brow. _'What the hell was that about? He just…looked at me.'_

"Who in the hell was he?" He heard Lloyd ask.

"…It doesn't matter," Raine said, "we should go and try to request an audience with the king."

And Yuri couldn't help but look back at her funny. King? Seriously? This place…really is stranger than his world. The only thing close to a 'king' is 'emperor'.

…And Raine noticed the look he was giving her. "What?"

"Uh, nothing," he said before he followed Lloyd and Gene up the stairs. When he caught up to them, he couldn't help but look around, seeing people going about with their business.

…Huh, it feels…kinda weird not seeing a Kritya among these people; another thing that he had grown used to on his own world. He looked up at the street lamps, slightly stunned to not see a Blastia core in any of them. But…how did these people managed to get power for them? Even at that strange base, none of the things there are powered by Blastia or Blastia cores. It's really weird.

"Woah…" he heard Lloyd let out and he let out a small grunt-

The sight of a couple of people wearing fancy outfits made him make a bored look. Oh great, even this place has nobles… he thought dryly. Why is he not surprised?

As the others looked around the noble level in awe, he noticed that Colette had walked on ahead-

And bumped into one of the girls in a group. "H-Hey, watch it!" The girl called in an _extremely_ irritating voice.

"Watch where you're going!" Another one snapped, looking disdainfully at her.

Ugh, his ears felt like they were going to bleed…

"Now, now, settle down, my darling hunnies!" A new, male voice called out and a man with long red hair and- is he seriously wearing _pink_? God, he thought _Cumore_ was bad…

He looked over at the blonde, white clad girl and smiled. "Well, my little cool beauty…you aren't hurt, are you?" He asked.

Of course, Colette didn't respond. The woman Colette ran into scoffed. "Master Zelos has deigned to speak with the girl, and yet look how she acts!" She said in a haughty voice.

Man he really hated nobles – except Estelle. She's a lot nicer than these _ladies_-

"_They really hang around you, you know?"_

_The red haired boy sighed. "Well, I'm the Chosen. All they wanted was to be in my company."_

_He raised a brow. "Can't you tell them to go away or something? They're kinda annoying."-_

Yuri held his head with a small groan in his throat. Again-?

"-the nerve of this hag? !" Another girl's yell knocked him out of his thoughts and he noticed that the other girls hovered closer, trying to intimidate Colette.

He frowned. "At least there are a couple of people I know that have better manners than you." He spoke up, putting his hand on his hip.

And the women now had their attention at him. "Excuse me? !" One of them shouted.

"Yeah, at least one of them didn't look like their face had been through a cheese grater," he continued, looking impassive.

"How dare you-!"

"Hey, hey!" The red haired man held up his arms with that easy-going grin – _why did it look forced? –_ "There's no need to fight, ladies. I can't have my darling hunnies get any gray hairs, now can I?"

Yuri couldn't help but roll his eyes when the girls swooned at this remark. _'Oh boy…'_

Zelos merely walked over to Colette and lean over a little to look at her face. "Hey, are you upset, my little angel?" He asked, leaning closer. "You know, I bet you're as cute as a button when you smile." He said as he reached out a hand to cup her face-

Her hand snapped up, roughly grabbed him by his arm and-

"WOAH!"

Yuri couldn't help but gawk. Did-Did he really see her _throw_ him all the way across the square? ? But- that didn't seem possible!

Yet he was also surprised to see the red head recover in the air and landed on his feet. He looked back at Colette with a surprised look on his face. "T-That…was a surprise, my little angel," he said, straightening himself and changed his façade to carefree once more. "I really didn't expect you to be quite so strong…"

'_You and me both…'_ Yuri mentally agreed.

"Wh-Who are you?" Lloyd asked in shock. Zelos walked up to them, looking at the red clad male with indifference – typical.

"No offense, but I'm not interested in talking to guys."

"Ugh…I hate this guy already…" He heard Gene mutter to himself, palming his face.

The man looked over at Raine, and his grin grew. "Ohhh! What's your name, beautiful?"

"Give me your name, and I'll give you mine," she simply said, crossing her arms and looking at him with indifference. (If he wanted to, Yuri would've applauded her.)

While the man looked surprised, Yuri heard Gene whisper to Lloyd, "Hey, she copied you Lloyd."

"Yeah. Now that I've heard it from someone else, it…did sound kinda arrogant…"

"Oh, you don't really know?" The man asked, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Huh…I thought that everyone had heard of me by now."

"What, that you're a pompous ass?" The insult left his mouth before he could stop himself.

"How dare you-!" One of the girls shrieked.

Yuri just shrugged uncaringly. "What? It's the truth."

Lloyd sighed. "Yuri, just let it go."

"Oh, so his name is 'Yuri'," one of the females smirked, "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Oh, that's so funny!" Another one laughed, and the others laughed.

Once more, Yuri just shrugged. "I've been called worse," he said, "but it won't really help much with your looks, now does it?"

The girls stopped laughing and glared at him. Yuri made a bored look. "If that's supposed to intimidate me, it's not really working."

They seemingly bristled at that- then one of them scoffed. "Master Zelos, let's go!" She said, "You're going to be late!"

Yuri looked back over at the red haired man-

He blinked. …Why is he staring at him? And…did his eyes held surprise?

The man blinked at what the girl said. "Oh, right, of course." He walked along with the girls, but not before pausing next to Raine. "Well then, I'll see you again my lovely lady, my cute little angel, you, uh, other people and…" He trailed off – but the dark haired man caught him uttering 'Yuri' – before he hurried to catch up with the floozies.

Yuri stared at his back, confused. "What was that about…?" he muttered softly to himself.

"UGH! What an ass!" Gene exclaimed, and Yuri glanced back at the boy to see him grabbing a hold of his silver hair. "The hell is wrong with him? ! He was grinning like an idiot the whole time, too!"

"Yeah, what the hell was that all about?" Lloyd piped up, looking back at where the man and his groupies had gone to.

"Eh, nobility," Yuri spoke up, "They're exactly the same as the ones I'm familiar with."

"Wait, so those people are nobles?" Gene asked.

Yuri was about to open his mouth to answer-

"That man had an Exsphere on him."

The three males looked over at the orange clad female, rubbing her chin as she looked back at where the previous group had gone to.

"Really?" Lloyd piped up, "So _that's_ how he reacted so fast!"

The dark haired male looked over at the young brunette. What's the big deal? Anyone else could've done it- if they had a Blastia or had incredible reflexes to do that.

And what the hell is an 'Exsphere'?

He didn't get the chance to ask that before Raine spoke up, "In any case, we don't have time to stand around right now. We should proceed to the castle."

Yuri blinked. Castle? They were heading towards the castle? Why?

But the silver haired woman just walked on, with Colette mindlessly following her. Lloyd and Gene gave each other a look, then at him before they followed her.

The dark haired male just shrugged and followed. But he had to pause a little and looked back at where that man – Zelos if he heard right – had left. He narrowed his eyes a little, before he hurried to catch up to them.

_**~o~**_

"What?" Lloyd's eyes widened in shock. "But-But we _have_ to see him!"

Raine really wanted to sigh. She had a feeling that it won't be easy. They had arrived at the front of the gates to the castle, to ask an audience with the king. Only to be told that the king is ill and is not seeing anyone.

"I'm sure you do," one of the knights replied, "but until His Majesty is well, there's nothing that can be done. The Church of Martel is preparing a prayer ritual to prepare for His Majesty's recovery; perhaps you should try asking the priests in the church to ensure that he gets well as soon as possible."

"B-But-"

Raine decided to put her hand on the boy's shoulder and shook her head when he looked at her.

Two more guards approached from their right, and the guard they had been speaking to nodded to them.

"Good luck," he said, before walking off with his partner. The two new guards then took their places in front of the castle doors.

"Well, this sucks balls," Yuri said once they walked out of hearing range.

Raine gave him a look. "…Not the wording I would use, but yes, it is rather unfortunate, and tedious that this had happened."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Genis asked.

Indeed. How are they supposed to deliver Sheena's letter to the king now? The half-elven woman put her chin in her hand and let out a thoughtful grunt. They had minimal options now – they can't really force their way in (that'd be bad for them and Colette). So…

She lowered her arm and looked at the boys. "I believe that we might as well go to the church," she told them, "We can decide our next move once we gather more information."

"…You sure Professor?" Lloyd asked, looking uncertain.

"I'm afraid it's the only choice we have," she replied.

After being silent for a moment, Lloyd nodded. "Okay. Let's go and check out the church."

The group took a couple of minutes to locate the church; its entrance was actually to the left of the square they had encountered that strange, red haired man. She admittedly looked at the building in awe, along with Lloyd and Genis. Yuri, she isn't sure; the man surprisingly had a good poker face for being so young.

"Wow…" Genis murmured, "Are all churches in Tethe'alla this big?"

"I guess so," Yuri shrugged.

"Say, Sheena mentioned a 'pope' right?" Lloyd asked. "Is he, like, the king of the Church or something?"

"I suppose…" She murmured, rubbing her chin a little, "they say that those who become pope are said to be the ones closest to the Goddess."

"Yeah," Genis nodded, "Sylvarant really didn't have a pope."

Raine took a quick glance over at the dark haired man, to see any sort of reaction from him. He only looked over at Genis, his brows raised in surprise. But he merely shrugged and walked over to the doors. The young woman raised her brow at that but didn't say anything; she just followed him in with the others.

But once they walked in, they were forced to stop and gawk for the first few moments.

Rows upon rows of pews sat on either side of a central aisle, which led up to a large altar. The walls were adorned with enormous stained glass windows, through which a pale light filtered through. The ceiling seemed impossibly high up. One either end of the church, there were rows of columns supporting the massive structure. An enormous statue of the world's interpretation of Martel stood up at the altar, holding her staff high in the air. She was depicted with angel wings, and her wings were spread wide enough to reach each end of the church.

Yuri let out a small whistle. "Wow. This place is pretty impressive," he said, looking around the place once more.

Lloyd gave the dark haired male a confused look. "Yuri…you've never been into a church before?"

"Not really," he answered, "I never really had the time to go to the church where I'm from. All I was focused on was trying to survive."

Lloyd blinked then he did a take. "Oh, right. You were an orphan."

An orphan…so Yuri grew up without his parents…

"You were an orphan?" Genis asked the man, "Well, that explains your 'bad manners'."

Yuri just shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said, "Sometimes you had to adapt to a harsh environment."

As they walked down the middle of the aisle, Raine looked over at him. "What sort of 'environment' did you have to go through?"

The dark haired male glanced over at her – barely aware of Lloyd and Genis gawking around the large building. Then he looked upward at the very high ceiling. "…I grew up in the lower quarter of the city I lived in," he said softly, "It's a lot different than this place."

"Oh? How different?" She asked, curious.

"It's pretty unbelievable, trust me," he shrugged.

She crossed her arms. "Try me."

Yuri raised a dark purple brow at her. But before he could answer-

"Oh, hello." The two of them looked to the source to see a pastor (he looked to have been in his late forties) looking over at them. "Welcome to the Church of Martel. Is there something I can help you with?"

Raine decided to interrogate the dark haired man later, and stepped forward. "Actually, yes," she said, "We were wondering about the King's current condition."

"Ah, yes," he nodded, but before he could answer, a loud scraping noise interrupted him. They all turned to see a young girl with pink hair in large pigtails, an axe hanging off of her back and a dark bluish-gray dress dragging in a large piece of wood. "Oh, Presea," he said, "The prayers are to take place in the royal chambers. Please carry the sacred wood to the castle."

"…Yes," she nodded – and Raine couldn't help but be a bit unnerved by her blank expression (her voice is even monotonous) – before she turned and walked out of the church, dragging the large wood with her.

"…She's cute…" Raine took a glance at her younger brother, seeing him with a dreamy smile on his face. Oh lord, he now has a crush on the girl.

"That girl had an Exsphere, too…" She heard Lloyd remark quietly. "I thought Sheena said people didn't normally wear them here."

"Yeah…She's really cute…" It seemed that Genis was too distracted by the new girl that he didn't even hear Lloyd. She shook her head at her brother a little.

"Say, you mentioned prayers, right?" Yuri asked, turning to the pastor. "You guys praying for the recovery of His Majesty?"

Raine looked over at the dark haired man in mild surprise. He seemed to be treading carefully, getting information without seeming suspicious.

"Yes," the pastor said, nodding (and she was thankful that he didn't notice the look she gave Yuri). "The Chosen and the Pope will pray before His Majesty and receive the assistance of Martel."

Raine nodded, playing along. "I see. Thank you for telling us."

"Yeah, we'll be going to go wish the Chosen luck as well," Yuri added, "We'll pray for the King's recovery, sir."

The pastor smiled, pleased. "Goddess bless you. If I see the Chosen, I'll be sure to extend him your best wishes."

'Him'? So the Chosen of Tethe'alla is a male? She shoved it out of her mind and nodded at the man before the group headed back down the aisle towards the door.

"That was surprising," she whispered to Yuri when they were out of hearing range. "You seemed to be pretty good at acting."

"I know better than to sell you guys out to him," he whispered back. "I learned that you can't really give out too much information to people you barely know."

Ah.

"Anyway, I think I know how we can see the King," Lloyd piped in, getting the two adults to look at him. "We should go and find that Presea girl."

"Wh-What? Really? !" Genis asked, looking at Lloyd with wide eyes.

Lloyd nodded, excited. "Yeah! If we follow her in when she carries the sacred wood…"

"…That is a reasonable plan," she nodded. "We should ask her to help us, then."

"Yeah! Good idea!" Genis said happily.

"Easy tiger," Yuri said, rubbing Genis' head. "We'll do this one thing at a time, Gene."

'Gene'…funny, 'Jean' is what their mother was going to call Genis if he was born a girl. She couldn't help but smile a little as Genis tried to get Yuri's hand off of his head.

Soon after that, the group exited the cathedral and found Presea at a short distance from the doors, speaking with an over-weight man with a brown Mohawk. A few seconds afterward, the man walked away and the girl started to pull the wood away.

"H-Hey!" Genis called out, jogging over to her. "Uh- Presea! Hang on a sec!"

She paused, but didn't look back at them. They approached her, but she just stared in the direction of the castle.

The silver haired woman couldn't help but feel unnerved – again – by her silence. "Could we have a moment of your time?" She asked slowly.

She still didn't say anything.

Lloyd stepped up to Presea in her line of vision, and the girl looked up. "Hey. I'm Lloyd," he waved a little as he introduced himself. "This is Colette," he continued, gesturing to her, "and Raine, and Yuri-"

"A-And I'm Genis!" The younger half-elf said too loudly, his face beet red.

Raine heard Yuri let out stifled chuckle when Genis said his name.

But Genis continued to speak, asking, "Would you let us help you carry the sacred wood?"

Presea merely turned to give him a deadpan stare, before she started to walk away again.

"I'm sorry," Raine spoke up, "I know this is a bit strange, but please hear us out. We have a letter we wish to give to the King."

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, "A friend of ours is in trouble. And we needed his help to save her. But the King is sick and refuses to see anyone."

"Yeah," Yuri nodded, "It'd be great if you help us out; we'll even carry the wood in for you."

Presea simply looked over at Lloyd, then back at the castle. Then she slowly nodded. "…Understood." She stepped away from the wood and gestured to the wood. "Please carry that."

Lloyd grinned. "Thank you!" He and Genis quickly hurried over to the wood while Yuri simply walked over to it. The two boys grabbed the wood on both sides as Yuri grabbed the other end and lifted it up. Well, tried to; they managed to move it about half an inch off the ground before they dropped it.

"Wh-What the crap? This thing is heavy!" Lloyd exclaimed, out of breath.

"No, this thing is as heavy as a basket of roses!" Yuri said in sarcasm, standing up to take a breather, "But seriously, how can a piece of wood be so heavy?"

As Lloyd and Genis stood up to do the same, Presea simply walked over to the wood, gripped it and dragged it away…with one hand.

The four of them watched her, gawking. "…I've lost all confidence as a man…" Lloyd moaned.

"Me too…" Genis sighed.

Yuri palmed his face. "…I could hear Rita laughing at me now if she heard about this…" He muttered.

Raine tried to keep a straight face. "We should get going now," she said as she went to follow the girl, Colette following not far behind.

* * *

**Um…I'm not sure how to continue this. So I'm ending the chapter here. Sorry. *sweat-drops***

**But hey! Zelos and Presea appeared! Yay! And Yuri didn't like the sorry excuse for 'ladies' – I mean, seriously, those women annoy me! Friggin' whores…**

**Yuri: "A-hem…"**

**Oh, right, sorry… The chapter felt short, but I hope you guys will like it.**

…**Did I manage to get Presea right? And a couple of characters that appeared on here as well?**

**Anyways, please leave a review! Reviews are very much loved.**


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, here's chapter 8! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"…I feel so out of place here…" Yuri muttered, with a cup of tea in hand. He even felt odd drinking tea in a place like this.

And he tried to ignore the butler of this place – Sebastian if he heard right – even as he asked him if he wanted anything else. He wondered if this is what Flynn feels like while living in the castle…

"You think you're the only one?" Lloyd asked him, sitting there rather awkwardly.

Yuri just nodded slowly. "Right…You guys came from Sylvarant and all…"

"And you're from another world entirely," Raine spoke up from her seat on the couch. The dark haired male glanced over at her to see her reading a book.

The ex-knight just shrugged. "I told you it would be unbelievable."

"Right," Raine just said, closing the book, "If your claim is true that is."

"Hey! C'mon Professor, he could be telling the truth!" Lloyd exclaimed; Yuri looked over the boy with a raised brow – why is he defending him?

"Or he could be lying," she also pointed out, crossing her leg over her knee, "Even if he could've had that…'Bodhi Blastia' piece with him, it's more than likely coincidence."

Well, Yuri couldn't blame her for this kind of logic. He'd probably think that the person who just dropped in on his group is pretty much crazy if they claimed they were from another world. He would also think that it was probably a trick to try to rob him or something. Then he would beat the crap out of this person and left him somewhere in a ditch, a gutter, or maybe an alleyway.

"Well-"

"Don't worry about it," Yuri interrupted Lloyd, "I honestly can't blame you guys for being suspicious and all." Yeah, with all the crap that they had been through before they had met. Finding out that their religion is a lie, that there are two worlds vying for this…'Mana' stuff, and a system that demanded a person from either world to sacrifice their life to 'revive' the world; to become a vessel for this 'Goddess Martel' person? That's just messed up.

Lloyd's arms fell limply to his sides and he sighed, plopping back down onto the couch. "…You know, I felt like that all we've been doing is waiting."

Yeah… it seriously felt like it, Yuri thought as he put the fancy tea cup down. He let himself sink back into the – surprisingly comfy – chair and closed his eyes. He thought back to what had happened earlier…

_Earlier…_

"Agh…Dammit! How much longer are they going to make us wait? !" Lloyd exclaimed, vigorously scratching his head in frustration.

To be frank, Yuri can't blame him. _'This is just ridiculous…'_ He thought as he pushed himself from the wall he was leaning on.

They had managed to sneak into the castle with Presea's help, and managed to find their way to the king's chamber. Although the King and his daughter were shocked to hear that they were from the 'declining' world – somehow they figured that he and Presea were from that place too – the Pope (something told Yuri that the guy is bad news) was rather hostile to them. Oh, and that red haired guy – the so called Chosen – was there too.

Although Raine had delivered a letter from Sheena to the King, his eyes was on the Pope the whole time. The dark haired male noticed that his concern for the King…looked acted. But before he could be sure, they were herded off to wait in the other room.

Mainly this room, called the Crimson Chamber.

Yuri took a look around the room. It was…pretty much like its namesake; everything is _red_. The carpet, the bed sheets, bed curtains, everything; in the color of a deep shade of red. But Yuri couldn't help but feel that there's a…sinister reason for this room.

"…I'm getting a feeling that they're going to kill us," he said finally, looking at the doors warily.

"Wha-"

"I'm afraid that Yuri might be right," the Professor spoke up, cutting Lloyd off. "To them, Colette is merely an obstacle."

"Dammit…" Yuri could hear the frown when Lloyd said that. "Are we gonna have to fight our way out of here?"

"I don't believe that's a good idea," Raine shook her head. "The space of this room and of the heavily armored guards, we won't stand a chance."

"But we've got Exspheres." There's that word again, 'Exsphere'.

"Yes, but that man, Zelos, probably knows that we have them as well," she pointed out to Lloyd's logic. "They'll most likely be prepared."

"Or not," Yuri piped in.

Raine let out a small sigh. "Either way, we have to be prepared for the worst," she said, looking grim.

"But if that happens, what about Presea?" Gene asked suddenly, looking over at the unresponsive pink haired girl by the unlit fireplace. At his sister's silence, he turned to look at her. "Presea, we're so sorry to have gotten you in this mess."

The girl didn't respond – and Yuri couldn't help but be unnerved by this girl. She's almost like Colette…

"As we now have time to ourselves for the moment," Raine suddenly spoke up, standing up. "I think it's time to know about something. Wouldn't you say, Yuri?"

As all eyes turned to him, he let out a sigh. He knew this was coming. Well, might as well; what did he have to lose?

"Alright," he said, "But I also have a couple of questions myself. What exactly is this 'Exsphere' thing you kept talking about?"

The three of them looked startled. "…You don't know what an Exsphere is?" Lloyd asked, slowly.

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew about it," he shrugged.

The three of them gave each other a glance. "Well…I guess you can call them stones of a sort," Lloyd started to explain, "They pretty much boost your power, strength and magic if you equipped them. But, you really can't put it on your skin directly."

Yuri raised a brow. Stones that can be attached onto people? What a weird place. But what did he mean by 'not putting it on your skin directly'?

When he voiced that, Lloyd answered, "Well, if you attach to onto the skin, you would start to get sick and weak as time goes by. But it's very dangerous to remove the Exsphere off of you." Dangerous? How? But he didn't voice it out, instead asking:

"So what do you have to do prevent that from happening?"

"Well, you just have to have a special talisman of a sort to control the Exsphere," Lloyd answered. He lifted up his left hand – and for the first time that Yuri had been around them, noticed a blue gem mounted on a yellow…mount(?) on the back of his hand – and tapped the yellow part. "See this? This is the talisman I talked about; it's called a Key Crest."

"Key Crest?" Yuri parroted.

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, "In it is a special type of ore that can keep the Exsphere stable – it's called Inhibitor Ore. But it's only accessible to Dwarves only."

Yuri nodded slowly; he wanted to know what he meant by 'stable' and all – he had a feeling that they weren't telling anything more about the Exspheres and such. But he left it alone for now.

"And now for our question," Raine stepped in, crossing his arms. "Where exactly are you from, Mr. Lowell?"

Crap; this is going to be hard to explain, he thought as he scratched the back of his head.

Then he sighed. "Okay, but let me answer that question with another question: Would you guys think I'm crazy if I said I'm from another world?" He watched them tilt their heads to the side at the question, feeling slightly apprehensive of their reaction. He knew that it was a bit quick to say something like _that_, but…

"So you're from Sylvarant?" Gene asked, scratching his head, "Or Tethe'alla?"

"Neither, actually."

After a moment of shock for them, Lloyd asked, "So where _did _you come from Yuri?"

"Well…" Yuri scratched his chin a little. "It's a world called Terca Lumireis. It's…pretty different from this place and maybe 'Sylvarant'."

"How different?" Gene asked.

Yuri dug into his pocket and – feeling slightly relieved that it's still there – pulled out the broken Bodhi Blastia and showed it to them. "See this? This thing is a part of something called a Bodhi Blastia I had," he said, "My world had a sort of ancient technology that was made by a race called the 'Krityan' a thousand years ago. They're called Blastia."

"Blastia?" Lloyd parroted, looking at the red diamond in the golden-yellow piece in his hand.

"Yeah," Yuri nodded, "I honestly don't know much about them," he admitted, "But there are a lot of different types of Blastia that we use – for weapons, to light homes many sorts of things. Bodhi Blastia, on the other hand, are made small enough for people to use to defend themselves against monsters that are around our world."

"How so?" Huh, Raine looked…interested – though he was slightly creeped out by how her eyes suddenly turned bright.

But he continued, "They let us use magic and Strike Artes. All of them needed cores to work though; and they also needed Aer to fuel them."

"Air?" Gene asked – and Yuri had a feeling that he was thinking of the air they breathe in.

"Aer. A-E-R," the dark haired male explained. "I didn't know much about it," until recently, he mentally added, "but I do know that it's pretty much in the air, earth, wind and water; and it's practically invisible to our eyes. But it's only when it's concentrated that they can be seeable."

Raine rubbed her chin a little more before she looked up at him. "You say that it's all around everyone in your world; does it affect life as well?" He just nodded. "I see…it's a lot like Mana in a way…"

"Okay, for my next question, what exactly is this 'Mana' thing anyway?" Yuri asked, tilting his head a little.

"Mana is the very life source of our world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla," Raine explained. "Without it, droughts happen, crops wither… Basically, it's a little like the 'Aer' on your world."

"So wait…has anyone ever gone sick if Mana is too concentrated?" Yuri asked, "Too much Aer can actually make a person sick if they stay in an area where it's too concentrated." Or affect objects like ruins or make normal, tamed animals into monsters...

"Not really," Gene said, his brow high, "I don't think I've ever heard of anyone who's gone sick in a lot of Mana before…"

Yuri blinked. "Huh," he let out. _'So…is that what I'm feeling? Mana?'_ Yeah…now that he thought about it, this 'Tethe'alla still has a lot of that 'Mana' stuff – it actually felt…nice.

"Wait," Lloyd spoke up, "If that's true, then how did you end up here?"

"Like hell I know," Yuri frowned, "Me and my friends where doing something important until this guy in white appeared from nowhere and attacked me!"

"Guy in white?"

For some reason, he felt that it's important that they needed to know about this strange man in white. "Yeah," he nodded to Gene's question, "He has long blonde hair, a weird green gem on his chest and he's got wings. Like Colette." He pointed at Colette's wings to make his point.

He glanced back at them – and saw that Lloyd had frozen. The siblings noticed as well. "…Lloyd?" Gene asked, concerned.

After being silent for a moment, Lloyd stuttered, "Th-This guy…Did he- Did he have a large, purple sword?"

The dark haired male blinked then rubbed his chin a little. "…Now that you've mentioned it, yeah," he nodded, "He did."

Lloyd clenched his hands. "Yggdrasill…" He growled.

"Yggdrasill…" Yuri repeated under his breath, then spoke up louder, "You sounded as if you know the guy."

Lloyd gritted his teeth and glared up at him – and Yuri couldn't help but flinch when his eyes suddenly turned a red shade. "That bastard is responsible for the state Colette is in now!"

"He's the leader of Cruxis," he continued, his head low and quivered with rage, "The so called angels that everyone depended on for salvation against the Desians – that serves the Goddess Martel… But-But," he looked back up at Yuri, "for 4000 years, they've been deceiving everyone in both Sylvarant AND Tethe'alla! Even Colette!"

While Lloyd panted to catch his breath, Raine stepped forward. "Not only that," she said, "But Yggdrasill is also the leader of the Desians, a group of half-elves that had been oppressed by humans…and do unspeakable things to them in their Human Ranches…" she trailed off, looking away in…sadness? Shame?

After that, Yuri went silent. Half-elves…oppressed by humans…? What exactly is a half-elf? He remembered those people in the base say something like that-

Wait. They felt like milk…like Raine and Gene. And…they mentioned that Cruxis gave half-elves a bad name… Then…is it possible that-

He shook his head. "Okay, I get that Cruxis had lied to you guys for that long," he said, "But how exactly did Colette get like, you know, in that state?" He jabbed his thumb at her, while still looking at them.

Raine was the one who spoke up. "It's…a sort of system that Cruxis had used to probably keep the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla alive to this day. One world will go into decline while its Mana is transferred to the world that is prospering – in this case, Tethe'alla has most of the Mana that was in Sylvarant. In order to revive the Mana in the declining world, one person of that world – who we call the Chosen of Regeneration – will travel around the world to unlock the seals, reawakening the Summon Spirits of the world to bring the Mana back. But as the Chosen does so, the Mana from the prospering world will start to transfer over to the declining world."

"So even if the 'Chosen' brings the Mana back to the world, if the other world had gone into a state of decline, a 'Chosen' there will start their journey to regenerate it, right?"

"Correct," the silver haired woman nodded to his guess. "But there's more – I am not sure the reason of the Chosen having to fight the Desians, but I believe that it's to speed up the process of the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal."

"Cruxis Crystal?" The ex-knight parroted, tilting his head.

"They were originally thought to be holy crystals, given to the Chosen on the 'Day of the Oracle' as an indication that their journey is going to start," she explained, "But it seems they're no different than the Exspheres." Yuri raised an eyebrow at that, but waved his hand to motion her to continue. "As the Chosen unlocks each seal, they…began to lose their humanity slowly in exchange for angelic power. They lose their need to eat, to sleep, feel physical sensations, their voice, and finally…" She looked over at Colette with a sad look, "That. She lost her soul to the gem imbedded on her chest."

Once more, Yuri was silent. He looked over at Colette. Damn…the girl really had gone through hell and back…and all for trying to save her world. Sacrificing-

And image of Captain Niren, sitting in the pit-hole wounded, after tossing Chastel to him, appeared in his mind.

The dark haired man clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "That's so stupid…" He growled.

"Yu-"

"You're telling me that this girl – this…normal girl – had to go through hell, sacrificing her life for the sake of saving Sylvarant, all for Cruxis' sick desire? !" He snarled, cutting off whoever spoke. "She could've just told those people to shove it! She had a whole life ahead of her – and you're telling me that she was forced to give up her life in this god damn system that'll just repeat itself continuously? ?"

Yuri's body shook after that. Who cares if he's like this – who cares of its naïve or childish to think like this, but it isn't fair for Colette to go through this. And it isn't fair for Estelle for the hell she had gone through herself – finding out about herself, of how her power is dangerous to the Entelexia, and of what Alexei had put her through! To him, every life…is precious. He can't stand people who would just shrug off a life – like a couple of nobles, a couple of arrogant/corrupt knights (like that guy with a mole on his nose that Yuri had punched) and a bunch of other people. But…for four thousand years, these people had it much, much worse-

_-"(), why do people hate half-elves?"_

_A sigh. "Because half-elves are a combination of both human AND elves, they were scorned by both ends. For the elves, they believed that a half-elf's blood is…tainted. For the humans, half-elves live longer than they do, and have magical capabilities. In the declining world, it really didn't help much with a group of half-elves wreaking havoc to every humans – it'll make everyone fear the other half-elves…and hate them. Here, however, is much worse."_

_He stared up at () with wide eyes. "How?"_

_() looked away, as if unable to answer…at first – before he shook his head. "Half-elves are at the lower caste, treated like dirt," he said softly, "The smartest ones are held in basements of research institutes, never to see the light of day ever again. Those convicted, or suspected of crime, are to be executed."_

_He covered his mouth in horror at what () said-_

Yuri barely heard the three of them let out concerned exclamations when he fell to his knees, clutching his head with a groan. Crap! Not again-

"_-ot now! He's not rea-"_

Huh? What-

"…" Yuri blinked. He straightened up and looked over at his hands, stunned. That…was very odd – his headache…it's gone. Just like that!

"…ri? Yuri?" The dark haired male blinked and looked over at the source, seeing Lloyd's concerned look.

"Huh?" He let out intelligently.

"You okay?" The boy asked.

"Uh…Yeah, I will be." The ex-knight assured him, taking Lloyd's hand as the brunette helped him up.

"You sure?"

"Positive," Yuri couldn't help but feel exasperated by the kid's concern – he was like Estelle when it came to worry.

"Well…okay…" Especially when they looked uncertain by his answer – like they wanted to believe he's okay but isn't sure if he's lying.

Yuri shoved the thoughts out of his mind the moment the doors to the chamber opened.

_Now…_

Opening his eyes, he looked over at the people within the living room in the mansion of the Chosen of Tethe'alla. Lloyd is seated in a chair next to his, idly munching on some snacks that Sebastian had laid out for them; Raine had gone back to reading a book she pulled out sometime earlier, her leg propped over her knee; Gene and that Presea girl were sitting at the foot of the steps that leads upstairs, the silver haired boy trying – and failing epically – to talk coherently (or more like flirting) to the pink haired girl, telling her that's she's pretty; …and Colette is standing next to a stand with a pot of flowers on it, staring blankly ahead.

He sighed through his nose and closed his eyes again, sinking some more into the chair.

His thoughts were true when the Pope tried to kill Colette – much like Raine had theorized – but failed. Raine then jumped in and bargained that they should help them cure the girl, but at the expense of leaving Sylvarant the way it was. Lloyd and Gene had protested about it at first – not like he could blame them. The point of the Journey of World Regeneration is the SAVE Sylvarant; and it's their home after all – but they wanted to save their friend. It was either damn their world or damn their friend; they chose to save Colette.

The Pope, however, was against it at first, but the red haired man piped in that he would keep tabs on them, to make sure that they wouldn't return to Sylvarant to complete the World Regeneration.

And so, the red haired Chosen told them to go over to his mansion to wait for him as he told the King of their agreement – he even sent a message to his butler to allow them in.

…But that felt like hours ago, he thought as he opened his eyes again. With a huff, he stood up from the chair and stretched a little.

"The hell is he doin'?" He grunted, stretching his arms over his head. "Saying good-bye to those women or something?"

He heard Raine sigh as he stretched some more. "To be honest, that is most likely the case. I feel that he's going to be nuisance during the whole time."

Agh, FINALLY there's someone else who agrees with him!

"By the way, I wonder where we are supposed to start now that the King is helping us," Lloyd asked, once Yuri was done stretching.

The dark haired male looked over at Raine, just as she opened her mouth to answer-

"S'up my hunnies?"

Until an exclamation by a certain obnoxious red haired man made everyone turn to the source to see the male Chosen come in. "I hope I didn't make you wait long!"

Yuri just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I was at the edge of my seat in anticipation as I waited for you, oh Chosen One." Ah, it felt good to be sarcastic – especially around this guy.

"Oh, you wound me my friend," he mocked went aghast as he placed his hand over his chest. Huh, he read sarcasm pretty good.

But Yuri frowned all the same. "We're not friends, you know," he said, "This is only temporary."

The red haired man just snorted a little. "Anyways, I don't think I've properly introduced myself," he went on, as if what Yuri said hadn't happened. "I am the great Zelos Wilder, the Chosen of Tethe'alla bumpkins!" He finished with a grin.

Yuri was pretty sure he wasn't the only one giving him a deadpan stare.

"Anyways," the red haired man continued, unfazed, "We're going to be traveling together for a while, so, um…let's be friends, mmkay?"

'_Oh boy…'_ Yuri moaned mentally in his head, not hearing what Gene had said.

"Okay, putting aside these people," he seemed to have ignored the boys as he looked over the girls, "this gorgeous beauty is Raine, right? And then this cool cutie here would be Colette. And…" he blinked when he looked over Presea, "Say, who's this little one here?"

"That's Presea," Gene replied, "She helped us sneak into the castle."

"Wait, she isn't from Sylvarant then?"

"…Ozette," Presea said – and Yuri internally shivered at how BLANK her voice is!

"WOAH! Ozette! ? You mean that village out in the boondoc- I mean, out in the forest? !" Zelos exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, that's _so_ shocking," Yuri said sarcastically, "But in case you haven't noticed, they don't want to drag her into their mess."

Zelos gave the dark haired male a look. "So you're saying that you aren't from Sylvarant either? So why are you-?"

"I kinda dropped in on them," Yuri vaguely said. No need to tell this guy about what REALLY happened.

The red haired man raised his brow a little, but shrugged. "Eh, whatever. Now, while I was telling His Majesty about our deal, I asked the King to contact the Imperial Research Academy."

"The Imperial Research Academy?" The silver haired woman parroted, raising her silver brow.

"Yup," the man grinned, "The Research Academy is in Sybak – which is a big university town. Lots of cute, intelligent babes live there."

…This guy somehow reminds the dark haired male of Raven – it seemed that the only thing they could think about are girls.

"In fact, the people there could tell us a lot about what you bumpkins needed to know about how to cure Colette here," Zelos added.

"Where exactly is Sybak anyway?" Yuri asked.

"It's on the continent across the sea," the red head answered, giving Yuri a curious look. "All we've gotta do is cross the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, and we'll be there."

"Going to the Imperial Research Academy is fine, but can we have you free Presea and Yuri? Surely you don't need to keep tabs on the two of them as well," Raine spoke up as she stood next to Yuri.

"You sounded as if you wanted to get rid of me," Yuri remarked, giving her a sardonic smirk.

"If I wanted to get rid of you, we should've just left you were we found you," she shot back.

"Ouch."

The other males just watched the spectacle. "…Anyways, besides Yuri here-" hey, the first he ever said his name out loud "-the Imperial Research Academy and Ozette are on the same continent. We can drop her off later when we get there."

"I…I agree! That's a great idea!" Gene said eagerly.

Raine looked over at the pink haired girl. "Is that all right with you, Presea?"

She just stared straight ahead. "…Yes."

"Okay! So that's settled, then," Zelos said, clapping his hands together. "We can leave tomorrow."

Yuri looked out the glass doors in the back. "Huh, time sure does fly," he remarked, seeing the sun set.

"Indeed," Raine sighed, "We have been doing a lot of waiting around today. That's probably why we lost track of time."

"Okay! I've got enough room, so let's all eat, wash up and hit the hay!" Zelos exclaimed, "Sebastian! Tell the servants and maids to get dinner ready!"

"Sir!" Yuri couldn't help but jump along with Lloyd when the butler suddenly appeared beside them. Wasn't he tending the flower plants a few seconds ago…?

But then Yuri sighed. As he ignored Zelos trying to flirt with Raine – and Gene protesting the entire time – he couldn't help but thought, as he palmed his forehead:

'_This is going to be a LONG journey…'_

_**~o~**_

As much as he knew that they had to get up early in the morning, Genis couldn't sleep. He shifted around a lot in the bed, but no matter what, he just couldn't get comfortable.

After fluffing his pillow for the fifth time, he sighed, giving up. He's just unable to sleep – was it because he was anxious about tomorrow? Or of what had occurred since today?

He made an annoyed look at the thought of the annoying, red haired Chosen. Stupid Chosen; thinking that he's all super and everything! All he cares about is flirting with girls – and he doesn't take _anything_ seriously!

With a huff, the young half-elf got out of bed and walked out of his room.

It took him a while to find the kitchen, but one of maids – one of the few that is still up even at this ungodly hour – was kind enough to point him in the right direction. When he entered the room and flicked on the light – a novelty since Sylvarant doesn't have things like this. But its kinda weird not using a candle or a lantern as a light source – he had to check the bottom cabinet doors to see where the glasses are before he had to borrow one of the chairs to find them at the top. Pulling out a glass, he filled it with water from the sink – with nobs instead of a pump – and drank the whole glass.

He let out a sigh, wiping his mouth and putting the glass into the sink. Filled with water, he turned off the light and made his way back to his room. But as he passed by Yuri's room, he couldn't help but hear what sounded like a moan, making the young boy pause and look at the door with a confused look. Although he hardly knew Yuri for a couple of days, he wanted to respect the man's privacy – he's a lot more tolerable than the red haired Chosen – yet he couldn't help but be curious when he heard "Captain…"

Genis tilted his head a little and gently opened the door to a crack. Peeking in, he could see the dark haired man tossing and turning in the bed. "N-No…Captain, I'll save you…please just…hang on…"

The silver haired boy blinked before he slowly opened the door further – but the hinges still squeaked in protest despite his attempt – and tip-toed into the room to the side of Yuri's bed. He was able to peek up to the dark haired man, and, from the limited moonlight from the window, could see that Yuri's face was coated in sweat.

"Captain, please…just take my hand…" he muttered as he turned his back to the young half-elf, and reached his hand out to something that was in his dream.

Genis frowned a little, repeating "Captain…?" under his breath.

"C'mon captain! Why won't you reach out? ? It's okay! We'll get that healed! Just reach, dammit!"

Suddenly scared by the dark haired man's shouting, Genis quickly climbed up onto the bed and started to shake him. "Yuri! Yuri, wake up!"

"No! It's not too late! What's the point of saving the people I could if I couldn't save you? !"

"Yuri!" The boy shook harder; but it seems his exclamation did the trick at waking the man up-

And he yelped when Yuri suddenly shoved his arm onto him; like he was repelling something behind him. Then he fell and landed on his head as a result of leaning back too far on accident. As he groaned a little, holding his head he heard shuffling above him. Genis cracked his eye open, seeing Yuri looking down at him.

"Gene? What are you doing here?" The man blinked, a bit confused as he got out of the bed and helped the boy up.

With a small groan, the silver haired boy glanced at Yuri. "I was returning to bed when I heard you almost shouting in your sleep. It looked pretty bad, so I tried to wake you up."

The man's gray eyes did a small take before they softened. He bowed his head a little. "…Sorry."

"It's not your fault," the boy told him. Then he looked up at the man with a particular look, "By the way, who's this 'Captain' you kept repeating? Or…is that personal?"

The dark purple haired man looked over at him a little, then glanced away a little; as if he seemed uncomfortable to explain it.

"I…" Yuri looked back at the silver haired boy and muttered, "I'm going to get some air." He pulled on his boots and walked towards the door.

"Yuri…?" He let out, while the man left the room, closing the door behind him. Genis looked over the small table next to the bed, seeing the gray colored vest with the brown and yellow belt lying on top of it. Making a small hum, Genis made his way over to the door and walked out-

Nearly bumping into Raine. "Sis!" He let out in surprise.

She looked over him before she looked at the door towards Yuri's (temporary) room and back at him. "What happened?" She asked, "I heard shouting."

Genis rubbed the back of his head. "Well…Yuri had a nightmare, and I had to shake him awake," he explained. "Whatever dream he had I think it made him upset; he kept repeating Captain in his sleep."

The elder half-elf rubbed her chin a little – she usually makes that look when she's suspicious of something. The time when they had first encountered Sheena when the ninja tried to kill Colette is a prime example – and he could see the calculating look in her eyes. Genis opened his mouth to speak-

"There seems to be more to him than meets the eye." Until the orange clad woman said that.

Genis blinked up to her. "Raine-"

"Him being from a world we never heard of…and of how he got here… That man, Yuri Lowell, he seems to be holding back more than he lets on."

"Well, yeah, that is kinda understandable Raine," Genis said, "We didn't tell him the truth about how Exspheres are made and of how we got here ourselves; not to mention that a man who went with us is one of the members of the Four Seraphim of Cruxis…" the silver haired boy bowed his head a little, "and we got our asses handed to us by that guy…"

The elder nodded. "Yes… Despite opening up to Lloyd, he still doesn't trust us." _And I still don't trust him._ The words hung unspoken in the air, but Genis still frowned; since growing up, she had a right to be wary of anyone. They might say that they're friendly, and that they wouldn't hurt them…but, honestly, Genis couldn't help but hate most humans – Lloyd and Colette are…nice. But…how long that would be until they found out what race he and Raine _really_ are? Would they still accept them…or reject them…? To him, the thought of being rejected by your friend…it hurts a lot more than anything else. Sure there are some people who accepts half-elves – like Linaer and Aisha who accepted Harley in Asgard – but there are still other people who are afraid (and hate) half-elves. They…really can't take the chance of trusting a person they barely knew…

Genis looked back up at his sister. "What should we do?"

Raine let out a grunt/sigh, closing her eyes. "I don't know," she answered. "But, for now, we should see how this will play out."

The silver haired boy nodded solemnly. "Right."

_**~o~**_

"Have you called for me, my lord?" The leader of the Desian Grand Cardinals bowed before the blonde angel.

She could feel his green gaze upon her. "Pronyma, I have given you a task of keeping an eye on Kratos, correct?"

"Yes, my lord," she nodded, but didn't look up at him.

"The Chosen of Sylvarant is somewhere in Tethe'alla now," he said, "Along with 'Lloyd' and his companions. As soon as we locate her, I want you to retrieve her."

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasill," she nodded again. Yet before the green haired, female half-elf could stand up, her superior spoke up with:

"And one more thing," she couldn't help but look up to him in surprise, before he added, "While you're at it, I wanted you to locate this man." With a wave of his hand, he brought up a holographic image. It was static at first, before it showed a picture of what seemed to be a man with long, dark purple hair and gray eyes, glaring at something even in his wounded state.

She blinked her eyes, slightly confused. A human? What does her lord want with this man-?

"I should tell you, this man isn't a human."

Pronyma looked at her lord in surprise. "This is…?" She trailed off.

And he nodded. "Yes. Locate the renegade angel, named 'Yuri'."

She stared at him for a moment, still feeling surprised…before she sharply nodded. "Understood."

A man named Yuri…an angel that isn't known by Cruxis…

She would not fail her lord.

* * *

**Uh-oh. This doesn't seem sexy at all; that last part. Now Yggdrasill's bitch (literally) is going after not only Colette, but Yuri! …Am I evil, or what?**

**Yuri: "Yeah…I'm downright terrified."**

…**I am not putting up with sarcastic swordsmen, y'know. Even if you are my favorite character and all – and it's not because I pity you or anything, sheesh!**

**Yuri: "Hmph. I feel loved."**

**Ugh… Anyways, Yuri learned a little bit about the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla – and Lloyd and his gang learned a little about Yuri's world…but the Professor still doesn't trust him. Not that I blame her or anything.**

**Did I get Genis and Pronyma right? If not, give me a holler please.**

**Please leave a review my lovely fans. Yuri and I will use the flames to burn the prick that insulted Niren's name during his funeral!**


	9. Special: Rita

Surprise! It's a special! I don't want to leave you guys in the dark about the whereabouts of the others. Rita is up first!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I had, then I should help provide a back story for Yuri and a couple of others in Tales of Vesperia; they didn't give us a lot to work with.**

_Err…Spoilers for Dawn of the New World is in it. Thought I should warn you._

* * *

In the 18 years of his life, Richter Abend thought he had seen everything.

A brunette, short-tempered, self-proclaimed genius mage is not what he really expected. In all honesty, he was a bit amazed that Aster had taken an interest to the (crazy) girl – that claimed to have come from a world with things called…'Blastia' and an energy source called 'Aer' instead of 'Mana' – as she stayed with them in their apartment (they're lab partners, not what those sicko humans say otherwise), working meticulously on her choker-necklace she claimed is her 'Blastia'. She hardly went out – understandable since the other researchers and scientists didn't know of her existence. They only knew about a 'guest' staying with them – and only ate and showered when she deemed it necessary (or when Aster managed to convince her to).

He could still remember the strangeness of their encounter with the girl only a couple of days ago…

_A couple of days ago…_

Richter warily put his hand onto the pommel of his sword as he and Aster slowly made their way back to Sybak. It was dark out – and they should've been back in the town _hours_ ago. But Aster is very adamant about checking out a 'couple' more monsters before they could return.

The red haired half-elf could _hear_ Director Schneider scolding them about being out so late. He let out a sigh. "If we get in trouble for this, I'm blaming you," he said to the blonde human.

He got a sheepish grin in return. "Sorry, I really can't help it," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Monsters are really fascinating, you know. They could do magic like the elven kind."

The red head resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the blonde continued, "Don't you think it's truly fascinating that monsters use Mana like the elven kind do; along with being dependent on it like all of us?"

Richter couldn't help but rub his chin at that. To be honest, he never really thought of that until the blonde human brought it up. Yet he thought of it as weird – after the last World Regeneration journey 800 years previously, monsters have all but disappeared. And now, lately, monsters started to pop up everywhere; along with Mana starting to get thinner. He fought a couple of them to provide cover for Aster – that monsters could do magic like himself. Aster had brought up a _very_ good point.

"Actually, I thought it was weird that monsters could even _use_ Mana," the red head said, being honest to the blonde.

Undeterred, the blonde rubbed his chin himself. "But what does that mean?" He said, "Is there some sort of…connection the monsters have with Mana?"

There's that look again, Richter thought as he looked into the blonde's bluish-purple eyes. Aster _always_ makes that look when he's puzzled by something – and becomes hell-bent on trying to solve that puzzle. The red haired half-elf had seen the blonde like this a couple of times in the past, and always vehemently research that thing, even when other researchers think it's impossible. Aster _always_ somehow proves them wrong.

Truly, Aster is a _very_ brilliant human – but with a few screws loose.

Richter opened his mouth to speak-

Until a sudden flash of bright light in the sky made the two of them cover their eyes. They uncovered their eyes-

Just in time to see…what appears to be four streaks of light flying through the sky. Two were heading in one direction – and Richter faintly remembers the Flanoir region being in that direction – one was heading towards what seemed to be Ozette…

The fourth one landed several feet away from them. What was strange is that there wasn't an impact – or anything like it, if it was a meteor. But when the light faded, the half-elf felt something…odd. This feeling…it's so light – but, for some reason, it felt so _wrong_.

Wary of whatever had fallen from the sky, Richter said to the blonde human, "Aster, we should get back to Sybak and avoid whatever-"

Said human was already running towards the impact site. The half-elf heaved a great sigh before he hurried after him. Fortunately, he was more fit than Aster, so the red head managed to catch up to him and gone into the same pace as Aster's.

When the two reached the site, there wasn't even an impact crater. But they did find something that made Richter stare dumbly – and he had an odd feeling that hell had frozen over or something – as Aster's bluish-purple eyes widened a little. "What the…" The elder male muttered.

What was in the light…is a girl. She seemed to be a year younger than Aster with a red tunic-type of shirt (with a dark brown sash of sorts with green zigzags inside of it with a light brown outline on the edges) with black sleeves that somewhat puffs out at her wrists, where red fingerless gloves are at; around the right bicep is a long, yellow ribbon, tied in a small bow. Her hair is short and in a color of light brown with a pair of goggles on top of her head. Strapped to the back of her waist is…some sort of hostler with a book in it (it was too dark to see what color it is). Finally, on her right is a white legging-like sock with a black, high-heeled boot while the other is a long red and pink striped sock with a high heeled shoe on it. The girl is lying on her side…and the half-elf could see that she had been through hell and back due to the wounds she had.

Did the impact do this to her…? He thought, Or…did something else happened prior to her landing here?

The red head noticed the blonde human kneeling beside her and pressed two fingers at the base of her neck. Aster let out a sigh in relief. "She's still alive," he announced, then looked at Richter, adding, "But she's hurt pretty bad. Do you think you can heal her with your Healing Artes?"

Inwardly, the red head felt…a bit uneasy. Magic Artes – from base to intermediate and to high – he could do; but, to be honest, he never really worked with Healing Artes much. He isn't even sure if he could heal the girl's wounds – or even close up some of the _minor_ ones. Richter thought that Aster knew that – but the blonde is concerned of the girl's state to remember the half-elf's shortcomings.

Yet Richter sighed. "I'll give it a shot," he said, before he kneeled towards the female and held out his hand. Putting on a look of concentration, he closed his eyes to try to find the healing essence deep within his soul. He reached out for it…and let the cool healing magic flow out of him, to heal her.

For those gifted with Healing Artes, they could feel where the person is injured – both inside and out. There isn't anything wrong inside of her…but the half-elf couldn't help but feel a little shocked at how many injuries she had on the _outside_. Most of them looked (or rather feels) a few months old…and there are a couple that felt _recent_. Richter targeted those areas, focusing the healing magic onto them. Slowly, the recent wounds started to heal, and Richter had lost sense of time…

…until he had to force himself to stop, panting heavily from the exertion he had performed. He could even feel the sweat on his forehead.

Some of the girl's injuries aren't completely healed…but it'll do for now, until he regains his strength.

"I've…I've done all I could… do for her," he said to the blonde between pants.

Opening his green eyes, he could see the blonde nodding in understandment. Aster looked down at the girl for a moment, then he looked back at him. "We should take her with us."

"Aster-" He was about to protest until the blonde cut him off with-

"Ah c'mon, Richter; we can't just leave her here with the monsters." He looked back at the girl, "And besides, I'm kinda curious of what that light is and of how she got here." He looked back at the red head, asking, "Aren't you?"

To be frank…no; he doesn't exactly share the same curiosity as the blonde.

…But a part of him didn't want to leave this girl here. There are a couple of merchants that have lost their lives due to monster attacks; travelers included. Plus, to everyone else, half-elves are _always_ at the bottom of the caste system – even if they saved someone's life. To them, they figured that the half-elf who saved the person may have been the person who injured them in the first place.

That is the cruelty of Tethe'alla. The other half-elves that are living free in the town of Exire are, in a way, lucky – they wouldn't experience the cruelty of everyone in Tethe'alla. There are times where Richter himself wanted to escape…but he couldn't abandon the other half-elves in the lab, nor could he abandon Aster.

Because he is one of the few that accepted Richter for _who_ he is, and not _what _he is. Aster…he may not know it, but he's stronger than the other humans here.

The red head let out a sigh. "Alright Aster, have it your way."

It took the two of them a while to return to Sybak – but when they did, the street is deserted; except for a couple of knights that are keeping guard of what sort of monster that might try to sneak in (or a couple of half-elves trying to sneak out). Richter could feel one of them giving him an evil eye, especially since he's carrying the girl in his arms, even when Aster flashed them his I.D., telling them that the girl is injured and are taking her to their apartment to treat her. They couldn't take her to the infirmary, not only because out of fear (Aster have always hated doctors) and of the fear that the girl might have been a half-elf – which she isn't, because half-elves like Richter could tell what race the person is by their Mana alone. Yet she felt…so odd; so the red head really can't take any chances – but of the fact that the infirmary is closed at this time.

Once they made it the apartment, Aster insisted that Richter put the girl on the blonde's bed while the said blonde scurried off to find a first aid kit. As the red head did what the blonde said, his green eyes caught sight of the strange, yellow choker necklace with a red gem around her neck. He blinked a little before he looked in the direction the blonde human is at (who's still looking for the first aid kit in the bathroom) then back at the necklace. The red head slowly reached his hand out, to take the necklace off of her neck-

The girl mumbled sleepily, making a small grimace as she turned onto her side, facing him. Then, she opened her eyes – a jade green color – and blinked sleepily. She let out a grunt and sluggishly sat up, muttering, "Thieves be gone," before she threw a haphazard punch at him-

His instinct kicked in, and Richter caught the punch. The girl's eyes seemed to have cleared and glared at him. "The hell do you think you're doing? !" She demanded as she tried to jerk her arm back from him – the red head was surprised by the girl's strength – but Richter pulled back, his own green eyes narrowing.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he said, his tone icy.

But the girl didn't back down – another surprise – and the two of them had a glare off. Neither the girl nor the half-elf were backing down – and it seems that she's just as stubborn as any half-elf (at times). The glare off seemed to have lasted for a while-

A soft crackling made the two of them blink and looked to the source. The girl's choker…it was…crackling? "What the hell?" She let out and the crackling stopped, then she took the choker off. She gave it a weird look, saying, "Why the hell this blastia wouldn't let me use magic?"

'Blastia'? What-

"Found it!" Aster exclamation startled the two of them to look at the source, seeing the blonde holding up the first aid kit in the air in victory.

They stared at him.

Aster lowered his arms, giving them a confused look. "…Did I miss something?"

Richter couldn't help but palm his forehead.

"Anyways, I hope you're alright miss," the blonde said, going over to the girl and shifted through the kit to find the right medications and bandages.

"…'Miss'?" The girl repeated, sounding confused.

"Yeah," the blonde didn't seem to notice the confusion in her voice as he pulled out some disinfection spray, "With the monsters appearing around Tethe'alla lately, it's getting dangerous to be out in the road alone."

Richter looked away from the blonde, towards the girl – she looked completely confused. "'Tethe'alla'? Where the fuck is that?"

As the red head blinked, he heard the blonde stopped shifting stuff in the box. "…Tethe'alla is the world we're in now," Aster said, sounding just as confused as the half-elf (and perhaps the girl) felt. "Don't you know that?"

The girl then looked annoyed. "Of course I don't know that," she snapped, "Because I never heard of the damn place. And besides, where exactly are we?" She demanded as she looked around the apartment – it didn't look much, with a bed room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small table where the two would eat; there are also a lot of books, notepads, some quill and ink, pencils and paper (some blank, some with writing on them, and a lot of them crumbled up into balls) – as if trying to find something that they couldn't see.

Richter raised his brow at this. "We're in the university town of Sybak," he answered slowly, "A continent away from the capitol city of Meltokio."

"Never heard of it," she said bluntly. Then she looked at them, asking, "And do you two have any idea who I am?"

"No," the red head answered just as bluntly.

She blinked a little, looking surprised. The brunette girl opened her mouth to speak-

"I'm Aster." Until the blonde cut in, introducing himself to the girl. Richter gave the (perhaps crazy) blonde an incredulous look, as the blonde added, "So what's yours?" He even had a grin to boot!

The red head shook his head lightly and gave the girl an apologetic look. The girl raised her eyebrow at this, before she sighed. "Fine. Rita Mordio."

"Rita, eh?" The blonde then jabbed Richter on the ribs with his elbow and responded a look that said 'don't be rude!' to the red head's glare.

The half-elf rubbed the spot tenderly, before he looked back at the brunette female. "Richter. Richter Abend."

The girl didn't look impressed. "Right, Richter and Aster," she said, "But seriously, I never heard of Sybak until now."

"Oh really?" Richter's voice held heavy sarcasm, adding, "Then I suppose that you are from another world, then." Her outfit looked bizarre – she could've been from Sylvarant for all they know-

The girl's blink caught his attention, before she did a take. "Wait, if it's possible…" She muttered as she rubbed her chin a little.

"What?" Aster asked after a moment of silence.

Rita looked back at them. "Tell me, do the two of you know about Aspio?"

Aspio? "No, I don't think I have," Aster trailed off. Then asked, tilting his head a little: "Is that a name of a town?"

"You could say that," was her vague answer. He and Aster gave each other a look before back at her.

"Okay, this 'Aspio' place… Is it a town in Sylvarant?" The red head asked, crossing his arms.

The girl raised her brow at that. "Not really…" She trailed off. "Aspio is pretty much like Sybak – the sealed city of scholars. And, frankly…it's also not in this 'Sylvarant' place you guys mentioned."

Richter's eyebrows were raised so high that they almost hid under his fringe. "Then…where ARE you from?" Aster asked; Richter didn't trust his own voice to ask that.

The girl stared at them with her green eyes…then sighed. "…I think I came from a world that maybe you guys and the people in this 'Sylvarant' have never heard of."

The two of them stared at her. Richter….seemed a little biased by her claim; did that crash broke her head or something? Because – to be completely serious – did this girl expect them to believe her; that she's an-?

"Whoa! So you're an alien? ?" The red head palmed his forehead – again – at the blonde's amazed exclamation.

_Now…_

Afterwards, the brunette proceeded to explain about who she is, where she's from and of what she's talking about.

First off, she explained that where she's from, she's the esteemed genius who began as a researcher at the age of ten – a year older than Aster when he first started (at the tender age of nine) – within a world called 'Terca Lumireis'. As such, she takes pride in ancient technology that she had studied for five long years – technology built by a race (called 'Krityans') that are called Blastia. Blastia are used for many things apparently – much like magitechnology in Tethe'alla – to make certain objects function. They are used to light buildings, for weapons…even for barriers to protect cities and towns from the vicious monsters around the world.

There are also smaller forms of Blastia called 'Bodhi Blastia' – much like the chocker-necklace Rita has when she showed it to them. Bodhi Blastia allows the person who wears them to perform Strike Artes and Magic Artes – like a certain few that has Exspheres equipped.

However, the only problem is that all Blastia can't function without a 'core' – and a formula of sorts to allow them to work (or make them stable) – and the cores draw in a substance called 'Aer'.

Aer, in a way, is like Mana, since all living beings can't survive without either – but it seemed that the difference between the two is that Aer is…unhealthy for the human body if Aer is too concentrated; Mana isn't.

But when asked of how she got to Tethe'alla, even she is puzzled. All she could remember is that they were doing something important when a strange man appeared – and apparently attacked her friend. When Aster asked of what they were doing, she didn't answer.

The red haired half-elf was suspicious, but he let it slide – some secrets aren't meant to be told (or heard).

After that, they explained to her about Tethe'alla, the Chosen system, Exspheres, Cruxis, and of the existence of Sylvarant – they left out the Renegades; they don't need to tell her who told them about Sylvarant and all. As soon as they told her about Mana, however, that the girl looked surprised – then she said something about the reason why her Blastia didn't work. Blastia cores only absorb Aer.

And so, she spent the next couple of days working on her Blastia. At times, the half-elf see her working on…some sort of hologram but she could actually interact with it. …Somewhat like a portable computer, actually (and no, he's not jealous she could do that. Not at all; the day that happens is when people are starting to accept half-elves – both humans _and_ elves.).

But, for the most part, nothing else that's unusual had happened – besides the King requesting the researchers of Sybak to help the Chosen of Tethe'alla about his Cruxis Crystal. Apparently, someone is in trouble and the research is the person's only hope. Richter and Aster resumed their study on the monsters, and of how they could somehow use Mana like all Elven kind.

Richter once more shook his head – he could feel a headache forming on the horizon – and adjusted his gloves. Rita is once again working on her Blastia (even when Aster had to literally drag her away to eat breakfast earlier). It was almost time for them to return on their research on monsters.

Putting on his axe and sword, he waited for Aster to gather his things before they could go. Once the blonde has his bag filled with his stuff, he nodded to the red head – to indicate that he's ready – and Richter nodded back. But before they could leave-

"Hey." The two turned to the brunette female as she walked up to them. Her choker Blastia is in her hand – and her expression looked serious, when she said:

"Let me come with you guys."

The two of them looked at her in surprise. "Um…okay, but why-?"

"There's something that I needed to investigate," she answered to Aster's unfinished question. "Also…I figured that it would be a lot safer if I could do it outside of this place."

The red haired half-elf raised his eyebrow at this, but before he could open his mouth to answer-

"Sure! The more the merrier!"

Again, Richter gave a strange look to the blonde after his proclamation before he shook his head, exasperated.

_**~o~**_

Rita seemed pretty amazed by the sheer _size_ of Sybak – it's nearly as large as Aspio. And, like Aspio, there are knights keeping guard over the researchers/scientists, to make sure that none of them go out of line and to protect them from monsters just outside the city. The only difference between them, however, is that Aspio is located in a cave – Sybak is out in the open, and thus, subjugated to weather. But the two of them are also prone to be destroyed by natural disasters – like earthquakes.

But, at the moment, she didn't care. Yet as she walks out of the city with the two, she noticed that one of the knights are looking at the red haired man – and from the vibes she could feel, the knight seemed to be glaring at the man. The genius mage raised a brow at this, but she shrugged it off; it's none of her business anyway.

And the monsters out in the field…looked so different compared to the ones she encountered back in her world-

…Her world.

As she crouched by Aster and Richter as they watched the behavior of a couple of monsters, the girl couldn't help but drift back to her thoughts. Especially the whole mess she got herself after the day she met Yuri Lowell. While the situations she had gone through are a pain in the ass…she had to admit that she's opening up a little; especially around Estelle. At first, she only went with them to find out how she was able to use Healing and Strike Artes without a Blastia – she honestly thought that it was connected to the Rizomata formula – but as she traveled with Yuri and the others, she started to see Estelle more than an object…she saw the pink haired female as an older sister she never had. Or, rather, a younger sister since she's a little naïve about the world – and of its cruelties at times.

And, although the dark haired male was an ass when they first met – understandable since a creep was going around using her name to steal Blastia cores; they could never find that creep even after the whole fiasco with Barbos is over – but, as she slowly got to know him, he's…kind. In a weird sort of way that is – a way that fits Yuri.

At times, she got along with Repede and Judith but…she's a little biased around the twerp and the Old Man – with Karol asking stupid questions at times and the Old Man…being the Old Man – but she could get along with them as long as they don't irritate her or piss her off. She still isn't sure about Flynn and his posse, but she could tolerate the blonde – the other two, not so much. What, with the midget's whinny, high-pitched voice and that lieutenant's possessive nature with the blonde (now) Commandant – they're both annoying.

During the whole journey, though, she had learned a lot about what she thought she know so much about – about the Blastia, the Aer Krene, and much, much more…

It's funny – if Yuri and the others hadn't barged into her house, would her life be any different if she hadn't met them…?

The thought of making Hermes Blastia, and causing all sorts of danger to everyone around Terca Lumireis, made her shiver a little; and she was suddenly glad she met them.

…But, the constant 'curse' that floats about Yuri is getting on her nerves. Yet, on the other hand, how could they have known something like this would happen? It really isn't Yuri's fault that she had landed on a world that has no Aer, nor do they have Blastia. Only this 'magitechnology' stuff and this 'Mana'…

Speaking of which…

The brunette female looked over at the two. "Hey, I've got a question," she whispered; Rita isn't dumb enough to speak out loud to let the monsters know that they're here.

"What is it?" The dark purple clad man said – his voice equally low.

"…Can any of you guys use this magitechnology to use Artes?"

Richter gave her an odd look. Then looked back over the monster, and said, "Technically speaking, some humans can use Strike Artes; but not Magic Artes. People with elven blood in their veins can use magic…to an extent."

Rita narrowed her green eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"…Full blood elves are able to use higher levels of magic, since they are able to manipulate Mana," he answered, slowly. "Half-elves, like myself, can do that too, but only at High Magic Artes, since the much higher levels wear us out – or, at times, kill us if we overdo it. And because of our ability to manipulate Mana, humans fear us; especially the ones living in Ozette – they're the worse for being highly suspicious of people that are different."

"Quarter-elves – however rare they are, like the ones with 75% of elven blood within them – aren't able to use High Magic Artes," he continued, "But even if they could, there isn't any record of one doing so. Some people assume that quarter-elves could use only Intermediate Magic Artes."

Rita frowned, crossing her arms and looking away after Richter was done. Crap, this isn't good – if what the red haired man said is true, then here (even with a Blastia) she won't be able to use any of her Magic Artes. Then that must have included the others that could use magic (Estelle, the Old Man, Flynn, and Witcher (she isn't sure about Sodia, though)) – wherever they are. And why would people fear half-elves? They're half-human, right?

…But she didn't come out here to hear what Richter had said about humans not being able to do magic. No, she came out here to test something – it's crazy, she had to admit, but she figured that, if she tried to recalibrate the Blastia to absorb Mana instead of Aer, then she would be able to use Magic Artes. Again, it's crazy…

...yet what's the use of making a theory if it couldn't be tested out? No matter where she is, she's still a researcher.

So she stood up, stalked over behind the males and she managed to drag them away from the monster sight – she had been around Yuri and Judith too long, and her arms had gotten strong enough – despite the blonde's protest and the red head's started exclamation.

Once they had gotten far enough, she released the back of their coats and turned to them and asked before the two could even say a word:

"You said that half-elves could use magic, right?"

Richter slowly closed his mouth and raised his brow a little. "Yeah; but why-?"

"I have a favor to ask, if you don't mind," she cut him off as she sat down onto the grass and placed her Blastia before her.

"What's that?" Aster asked as she brought up her projector again.

As she typed away on it, she asked without looking at them, "You guys remember that I told you that Blastia could only absorb Aer to function, correct?"

"Yeah." Aster answered.

"And Richter, you said that only those with elven blood could use magic, right?"

"Why are you asking, anyway?" Richter queried – straight to the point.

She paused in her typing and looked at the two. "I figured that I should somehow recalibrate the Blastia to take in Mana, instead of Aer," she answered, "There are a couple of people who are capable of using magic in my world; I even have a friend who could even use Artes without a Blastia. _And_ she's human." She turned away from their surprised expressions and resumed typing. "The favor I wanted to ask you is to perform a Magic Arte – if I could analyze it, I could try to incorporate a formula to make this work. But, there are also chances that it might NOT work, and I might accidently break my Blastia doing so."

"…And that's just a theory that you came up with on the fly?"

She nodded at Richter's rhetorical question. "Yup. Just a theory."

There was silence for a moment. Then she heard movement and turned her head slightly, seeing the red haired man standing up. "Okay fine – but if what you said is true that everyone in your world is capable of using magic…you should try to _feel_ it, instead of analyzing it."

She blinked incredulously. _Feel_ Mana? That's almost similar to the strange question Yuri had asked her on their way to Zaude – at the time, she thought it was impossible for a human to do so.

…But, in a way – even if she didn't want to admit it – Richter is right. There are chances that her Blastia won't be able to work. If she could maybe feel the Mana…

She nodded, and dismissed the projection. Standing up, she said, "Alright, let's give it a shot."

Richter nodded back and drew his axe and sword before getting into a stance. "Before I can cast a spell, I want you to concentrate," he said, "Try to send your own life energy out – only a little – and try to make it touch the Mana that would swirl around me. Can you do that?"

"I could try," she answered.

"Alright." The man closed his eyes, and began to chant…in a strange language. Rita watched in awe as a glyph – much different than the ones she was used to – appeared under his feet. Oh, right, concentrate, she thought as she closed her eyes and got into her usual casting stance. She's able to concentrate better in that stance.

But how the hell does Richter expect her to send a little bit of her life energy-?

Wait. Maybe… Yeah, she could try to do the same thing when they tried to calm Estelle's power after Yuri managed to get her to return to her senses. Okay Rita, you can do this…

She grunted a little as she felt a little of her energy slip from her – now came the hard part. The brunette managed to grab her life energy – by a small thread – and tried to get it to connect to the Mana around Richter-

WHOA!

Rita snapped her eyes open and fell to the ground. "Rita!" She heard Aster exclaim, running to her side in concern. "Are you okay? ?"

…Yeah…she does. But…what was that feeling? This…strange mist in the air…and Richter felt a little like milk – at least, she thought it was milk, it felt similar to it. Is this what Yuri was referring to…?

But wait. From what she had seen from the dark haired ex-knight, Yuri was never good with magic, so how-?

She blinked when she noticed a gloved hand before her. Rita looked up at Richter, who offered his hand to help her up. The brunette looked back to his hand and took it, allowing the… half-elf pull her up. "You alright?" Although he didn't look it, Rita could tell that the red haired man was also concerned for her.

She nodded. "Yeah. I am."

The genius mage looked back at her Blastia, still sitting there on the ground. She walked back over to it and called up the projection once again and typed something in. With a final press of a button, she looked over at the Bodhi Blastia before she picked it up and put it on. Rita got into her casting stance and closed her eyes. Now she felt more aware of the mist in the air, and started to draw it in. As she does, she could feel the familiar wave of magic flowing through her as she casted one of her favorite spells.

"_Oh flickering blaze, burn,_" she chanted – the fiery feel of the magic running through her veins. When she felt it at its peak, she thrust her hand out. _"Fireball!"_

Instead of a small fireball – ones that she had gotten used to seeing – a rather large one came out instead-

And killed a random monster that was unfortunate to be in its path of fire – quite literally, might she add.

However…Rita was in shock. She was still in the same position she used to fire her magic. After a few moments of stunned silence, however…a smile started to form on Rita's face before it turned into a grin…and then a savage grin.

"YES!" She shouted, pumping her fists into the air in victory – because, at the moment, she felt victorious – and cackled. "I am the greatest mage in the world! And DON'T-" she swiftly turned to point at Aster and Richter – who snapped out of their stunned states to look surprised/startled (the latter for Richter) at her "-you forget it!"

As she resumed her laugh, in the back of her mind, it was shouting:

"_Eat your heart out Witcher! You too Richter! HA!"_

_**~o~**_

A few days afterwards, Rita started to come along with Richter and him while they research on monsters. Aster had to admit, she was the first human he ever met to ever _use_ magic! Even Richter himself said that she's human; and while she only went with them as an excuse to practice more on her magic – he noticed that the 'gem' on the Blastia had gone from red to blue after she casted Fireball – at least she's smart enough to do it _outside_ of Sybak. The blonde isn't sure if it's a good idea to use magic where half-elves can commonly use it in there – if the knights and other researchers found out about that…

He forced himself to not think of it. The blonde had a feeling that it might be…disastrous to both Rita _and_ everyone else in the city.

During the time, Richter and Rita would spar using their weapons – the red head's axe and sword and the brunette's sash (that acts like a whip) – at times, but they mostly practice with their magic. And some of the magic Rita uses is…different than Richter's – like that 'Champagne' spell. It's just a circle of water (that fizzes up on the surface) that appeared under a person. There's also a spell that he had heard of, different than Dark Sphere and Bloody Lance – but he had seen Richter use a different Darkness type spell, called 'Negative Gate' – called 'Spread Zero'. For some reason, though, Rita was unable to use the Wind type spells – like Wind Blade for instance.

And, although the sight of a human able to use magic is fascinating, the blonde really can't ignore his own studies on the monsters. Aster got out of his thoughts and looked over his notes so far – on the monsters that are seen around Sybak that is; he couldn't go far enough to find more monsters, however.

All of them different – some looked the same but in a different 'class', and with a different element type. They're…similar to the Summon Spirits that exists in the world – and Aster had once studied about them back then. He even helped create an artificial Summon Spirit that was used by the Mizuhoan woman that had the ability to use Summoning Artes, Sheena – so…is it possible that there's another Summon Spirit that they didn't know about…?

…Does the Giant Kharlan Tree from back then – even if it is a fairy tale – have a Summon Spirit itself? If so, then is it responsible for the monsters that appear around Sylvarant and Tethe'alla – and the reason why they all could use Mana?

Aster sighed and leaned back into his seat. _'So many questions, yet so little answers…'_ He mentally groaned, putting his hands behind his head.

The blonde wanted to know – does the Giant Tree exist? It seemed plausible, since how could the world exist today? He heard from Richter – who had once visited the village of the elves back then – that the world doesn't have any Mana at all at first. His friend didn't have all the details, but something – a comet? Or what? He isn't' sure – appeared and gave the world life, as shards of Mana rained down onto the world. But Aster didn't have all the facts – and evidence – to prove it.

The blonde tried to stifle a yawn, but it won, making him yawn widely. He looked over at the clock – it reads 2:30 A.M. Aster looked over at the two sleeping – though Rita is asleep in a pile of books; which Aster thought was odd at first but Richter reminded him that there are also people who slept surrounded by scalpels due to paranoia – and blinked sleepily. He sighed and made his way over to the bed; Richter would scold him, again, for staying up late once more – saying that it's bad for a person's health to stay up later than needed.

Aster had seen what happens to people like that. So he's going to listen to his friend and get some sleep.

He didn't even bother to take off his lab coat and boots and he fell forward onto the bed, and lightly snored, out like a light in an instant.

* * *

**YES! First special done! Sklee!**

**Rita: "The hell are YOU excited about?"**

**What? This story has good feedback – like 25 reviews so far! I don't know how I do it…**

**Rita: "Sheer luck."**

…**That too. Anyways, you now know what Rita had been up to since she landed in Tethe'alla – don't worry, I'll be doing the others in time. The next chapter, we'll return to the main story.**

**Also…did I get Rita and Richter right? We barely have any information about Aster, so…I hope I got him good as well.**

**Please leave a review my fans! As for flames, Rita and I will use them to torch the Pope for being a racist bastard that he is – I mean, c'mon! A guy like him doesn't DESERVE to be called a father! Who else agrees?**

**Cast of Tales of Symphonia and some members of Tales of Vesperia: *raised their hands***

**Thought so.**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter nine, peoples! And I used plural on purpose because I felt like it! XP

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"Woah…" Lloyd let out, as he looked around the city. It looked just as big as Palmacosta! Though…Palmacosta is the only city in Sylvarant since the other places they've been to are towns or villages.

Though, they DID arrive pretty late; night had fallen by the time they got here after crossing that bridge-

The bridge…

…yeah, it was…grand alright, but…for it to be powered by over three thousand Exspheres… Over three thousand human lives…

It was like the combination of the Palmacosta Ranch, the Asgard Ranch, and some others they hadn't explored.

It really wasn't easy telling the truth about the Exspheres to Zelos and Yuri – Presea, he didn't know, since she's…he couldn't finish the thought – and while he was pissed that Zelos just shrugged it off…he wasn't even sure what Yuri was feeling. The dark haired man just went silent during the entire time they were crossing the bridge. It's hard to see what he was thinking – much like Kratos in a way (but Yuri isn't like Kratos who…who betrayed them) – with what the Professor had called a 'poker face'. Almost as if the man didn't want anyone to know what he was thinking.

Lloyd shook his head and the group started towards the square-

"Hey wait guys!" Genis exclamation got everyone to look at the silver haired elf; the said boy was looking at Presea…who just stopped. "Wh-What's wrong Presea?"

She didn't say anything – the brunette couldn't tell what made the girl stop, since there isn't any emotion on her face. Presea just…stood still, staring straight ahead at the buildings before them.

Then, after what felt like a life time, she spoke. "I hate this place… I want to go home."

The brunette blinked at her words. And he was pretty sure that the others were the same way. Zelos went up to her and bended over to see her eye-to-eye. "Just wait a little longer, little one," he said, "We'll be out of here in a jiffy, and then it's off to Ozette. Right, Lloyd?" He added, looking over his shoulder to him.

"Oh, uh…yeah," he replied – after jumping in surprise a little – and then hung his head, guilty. "Sorry about this…"

They all headed deeper into the city – yet Presea's little remark floated around in the brunette's head. Why would Presea say something like that? Did…Did she have some sort of history with this city? He didn't know why but…that remark had an ominous quality to it.

Lloyd shoved the thoughts out of his head when Zelos groaned out-loud; the brunette looked back at him to see the red head vigorously rubbing his head. "How the hell can you guys stand to be silent this long? ?" He exclaimed, irritated beyond belief.

"How the hell do you expect us to talk after we explained to you guys?" Genis growled at the man.

"I don't see YOU flipping out on Yuri here, brat!" The red head growled back.

Lloyd looked over at the said dark haired male to see him frown. "Just because I'm silent doesn't mean that I could just easily brush off a person's life, you know."

"Aw, c'mon! Why are you guys treating me like a bad guy?" The red head complained.

Yuri rolled his eyes. "You remind me of a certain old man I knew. He complains lot like you."

"Well, duh," the male Chosen shrugged – somewhat similar to Yuri's shrugs, "old people are _old_. They all complain."

"Yeah, but this guy isn't exactly old old," Yuri said, "He's, let's see…" He trailed off as he rubbed his chin a little, then nodded after a moment, "Older than me by fourteen years."

Lloyd blinked. "That didn't sound old at all."

Yuri just made a small shrug. "Not by my standards."

"Your standards?" Genis raised his eye brow at that.

The Professor cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Should we find the inn?" She asked, "I feel that most of the facilities – especially the Academy – are closed at this time"

"Okay! No need to worry my hunnies and buds!" Zelos exclaimed, making a carefree grin. "The Great Zelos here will give you the grand tour of Sybak!"

Lloyd groaned. "I _told_ you! My name's not Bud!"

But the red haired Chosen had already walked off, the siblings, Colette and Presea not too far behind. And left him and Yuri alone at the opening. The dark haired male sighed. "I think he's one of the types who 'calls 'em as he sees them'."

"Then how come he didn't give YOU a nickname?" The brunette asked, giving the dark clad male a suspicious look.

That made Yuri pause a little. Then he rubbed his chin a little. "That's…a good question," he muttered. "But isn't it just as strange that he called you 'Bud' instead of something else? Like, I dunno, 'Hey You' or 'Red One'; I was honestly expecting him to call you either of those."

The boy, again, groaned as he palmed his forehead. "I don't get why he called me that – my name's not Bud!"

"He seems pretty adamant about it," Yuri said as he began to walk. "So tough luck trying to get him out of that habit," he added as the red clad boy jogged to catch up to him.

As the two of them caught up to the others (Lloyd could see Zelos pointing at different buildings with the Professor nodding every once in a while – even slapping Zelos' prying hands away without looking) Yuri asked:

"Any particular reason yours is special?"

Lloyd stopped and looked over at the man-

His eyes were narrowed and his arms are crossed as he stared down at the boy. "Huh-?"

"Your Exsphere."

"…" Lloyd's eyes went wide and he had to turn away from him. The boy delicately placed his hand over his Exsphere, staring at the ground.

"_That Exsphere was the fruit of my long research…"_ Kvar had said, when…when he found out the truth, _"But one day, a treacherous woman, who was an experimentation subject, decided to take it with her when she escaped. Naturally, she paid for the crime with her life…"_

The brunette's eyes narrowed and the hand with the Exsphere on it clenched.

"…Was it someone special to you?" Yuri's voice was soft and Lloyd barely heard it. _Barely_.

Lloyd couldn't trust his own voice to speak. But…

"Y-Yeah," he nodded – slightly, "It…It was made from my mother's life."

"…I see…"

'I see'? How could he see? ? He couldn't understand how much it hurts to find out that this…_thing_ took his mom's life? !

"Even _I'm_ not cruel enough to brush away a life," Lloyd jerked when Yuri said that. Oh cra- He said that out loud? ! "After you guys explained about the…stones, I kinda put two and two together; though I wish that I wasn't right…"

The red clad boy slowly turned to the other man, to see him look away-

Huh? Hey…is that… Is that 'hurt' in his eyes? He…felt hurt? But why-?

The things Yuri had said back in the red room came back at him. And Lloyd realized: Yuri…he may seem cold, but…he actually cares about lives – more than anyone could realize – and…he couldn't stand it if someone else is playing with another person's life.

And hadn't he felt the same after they escaped from the Asgard Ranch? But…That didn't explain why Yuri felt hurt by this. Was…was it because of…

"…Is it…just as bad over at your world?" He asked, turning to the dark haired male fully.

After a moment of saying nothing…Yuri just sighed. "…You could say that." He glanced over at him, and added, "The most dominant race over at my world are humans. And…" he glanced away again, "Humans…kill other humans. Some do it for stupid reasons…and others do it with a sort of purpose – both good AND bad."

For some reason, there's…something in that sentence that made Lloyd tilt his head questionably. But the boy couldn't figure out what it is though. Lloyd opened his mouth to ask-

"Hey guys!" Genis' exclamation made the two of them jump a little and they both looked back to the said silver haired boy waving at them as the others headed off to a building. "The inn's this way! C'mon!" The young elf then quickly hurried to catch up to the others.

Yuri heaved out a sigh. "I guess we can continue this conversation for another time."

"Y-Yeah…" Lloyd nodded as Yuri walked past him. The boy stared at his back for a little while before he slowly followed him.

Later that night, Lloyd was awakened by the sound of the door opening and closing. The brunette pushed himself up on the bed and looked around the slightly dark room. Zelos seemed to be dead asleep (or, as Yuri calls it 'dead to the world' or something) but…when he looked at Yuri's bed, it was empty.

Lloyd blinked and looked at the door then back at the empty bed. _'What's Yuri doing going out so late?'_ he thought. Curiosity getting the best of him, Lloyd pulled on his boots (leaving his jacket, gloves, belts and swords) and quietly made his way towards the door.

As soon as Lloyd got outside, he found Yuri leaning against a lamp post near the inn, his back facing the door (and the boy noticed that Yuri wasn't wearing his vest and belt). The dark haired male also had his arms crossed, and was looking up at the sky. Lloyd slowly approached the other male, to not startle him. When he got close, Yuri slightly turned his head to the male brunette said, "Hey."

"Yuri, what are you doing out here?" The brunette asked.

The dark haired male sighed, and looked back up at the sky. "Couldn't sleep," he answered, "I've got too much on my mind."

Lloyd had a feeling what it was. "…Oh," he said, and sat down on a bench near the other male and looked up at the sky along with him.

After a moment of silence, Yuri spoke up with:

"Hey Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked over at the dark haired male in shock. That-That was the first time he had heard him call him by his name!

"…What's with the look?" Lloyd snapped out of his shocked state and quickly recovered with:

"Uh...n-nothing. Anyways, what is it Yuri?"

The dark haired male looked back up at the sky. "Have you ever…killed anyone? If the reason is just to make sure that they won't hurt anyone else again? Or rather…were you forced to kill someone even if it meant to save a person's life?"

Lloyd did a take at that. Then he looked at the ground. Yeah…he had killed people before – during the Journey of World Regeneration back in Sylvarant; all he had done is kill Desians. But…just because they're half-elves doesn't mean that the others are evil – and…although he didn't know that it was Marble at the time, but he HAD to-to kill her when she became a monster…like his own father was forced to and his mom ended up like Marble…

"…Yeah," he muttered after a moment. "But…just because I did, it…it doesn't mean that its right; there's…probably a lot of humans who are just as bad as the Desians. And the people who you think is good, turns out to be bad." Like Cruxis – of how they had manipulated everyone to do…this.

Yuri grunted, to indicate that he got it. "Even if the worlds don't have half-elves, it really won't make a difference," he said. "And half-elves are just half-humans; the Desians became what most humans are – monsters. For me, that, is a lot worse than anything else in the world."

"Some of the people I know – or don't know – would often use their status to hurt other people," he continued. "Because, to them, 'commoners' are just pieces of trash… When they are trash themselves just thinking like that, and just shrugging off a life – any life for that matter. Just remember this Lloyd," he turned his gaze over at the brunette-

Huh?

"Don't ever fall to the same level as the people you may have killed," the dark haired male said softly. "The worse thing about it, is that you might end up becoming a monster they once were." Yuri pushed himself off of the lamp post and walked towards the inn.

Lloyd remained where he sat, even when the dark haired male had returned inside the building. The things Yuri had said buzzed around in his head…

But Lloyd didn't think he could get the image of the man's eyes…becoming a shade of green instead of gray out of his head…

_**~o~**_

Yuri let out a rather long yawn, his mouth completely wide for a moment. Then he smacked his lips a little after it passed.

And Lloyd yawned afterwards. Huh, yawns _are_ contagious… he idly noted, rubbing his eye a little.

"Man…it felt like I've slept worth crap last night…" He muttered rubbing his other eye.

"Well gee, Yuri," Zelos spoke up with a smirk, "You weren't doing anything _secretive_ last night, did ya?"

"Not that I know of," he answered, too tired to be sarcastic towards the Chosen, "I don't drink alcohol unless I wanted to." Yeah, he may have an unreal tolerance towards illnesses…he doesn't have a tolerance towards wine and such. That and they tend to give him weird dreams – not the ones with the presences – like he had a dream that Estelle is drunk and wanted his hair after drinking a little bit of ale back in Dahngrest…

"And I'm not _that_ low to hook up with a girl I barely knew – like _you_," he added, giving Zelos a rather suspicious look (even though the red haired male just gave a shameless grin).

"Uh…"

"Don't ask Lloyd," Raine said, letting out a sigh.

"…So, how long is it until this guy gets here?" He asked, and Yuri glanced over at the male Chosen.

They've been waiting for a while now, waiting for the knight to come and get the man that might help them with figuring out Colette's condition. They had gotten up earlier that day to head over to the academy – and the place is huge up close – so they had waited for a while for the knight to return while other people go in and out of the building.

Zelos just looked over at Lloyd with a grin. "Don't worry," he told him, "He'll get here when he gets here."

At that moment, the door to the Academy opened up to see a man – he felt like soup broth like Lloyd, Zelos and Presea – in a white lab coat looking at them. "Ah, Chosen One!" He said with a smile. "We've been waiting for you. Please, come this way."

'_About time,'_ Yuri thought as they all followed the researcher into the building. Yuri had a brief moment to be amazed by a large dragon skeleton that was on display near them but he quickly shook it off to follow the others (though he could've sworn he saw a familiar brown haired female in red talking to a man with red hair and wearing a dark purple outfit and a male with blonde hair wearing the same lab coat as the others near the skeleton). During the whole walk, Yuri noticed that Lloyd kept giving him a particular look every once in a while, then looked back…before repeating the process after a couple of seconds. The dark haired male couldn't help but blink at that – what's up with him?

They soon came upon a door and were ushered into a moderately sized office. …And he thought _Rita_ was bad by the insane amount of books piled, well, almost everywhere. There was also a rather large desk in the center of the room, and the researcher took his place at the front of it and tapped something onto – what he had now noticed – was a large machine there.

"So, what's the deal?" Zelos asked, after a few moments.

After that a holographic diagram appeared (and he raised his brows along with Lloyd and Gene letting out awed 'Ooh' at that) and the researcher spoke as he typed some more things onto it:

"When we received the report of Colette's symptoms, we turned most of our attention towards the research data regarding the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal."

"Well, now! So my crystal was useful," Zelos exclaimed, then looked over at the unresponsive blonde with a grin, "When Colette returns to normal, I'll have to make sure she thanks me generously."

"Not on your life," Yuri muttered to him, taking note of the others giving him a death glare.

"So what sort of information did you find?" Raine spoke up, wanting to forget Zelos' perversion for the time being. "Is this condition of hers something we can cure?"

The man looked at her. "In order to determine that, we had to look at the problem's source: the crystal itself. From what we've collected from the data, it seems that Cruxis Crystals are simply evolved forms of Exspheres. And both Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals are lifeless beings."

"Lifeless beings?!" Raine's eyes went wide as Yuri flinched at what the man had said.

"Huh?" Lloyd let out in confusion.

"What…does that mean sis?" Gene asked.

Yuri's eyes shifted over to the silver haired woman, who shook her head at first. Then she opened her mouth-

_-"Lifeless beings are beings that are capable of emotions and thoughts which are either created by someone or dependent on waking and feeding on a living thing's emotions."-_

He blinked. Wha-?

He noticed that everyone is staring at him. "…What?"

"Err…Yes," the researcher nodded, "Exactly as you said, sir."

Huh? He said that out loud?

"…I don't get it," Lloyd said, sounding just as confused as Yuri felt.

Gene sighed. "Basically, what he meant is that Exspheres are…somewhat like parasites," he explained, "So in order to get 'power' or energy, they had to be attached to a person."

Lloyd did a take at that. "Right…they feed off of the body's Mana."

"And since a crystal fuses with an individual, the Mana in the body loses balance and goes out of control," the researcher continued. "This can only be prevented with a Key Crest."

There was a brief moment of silence before Gene spoke with: "And that's why Exspheres without Key Crests turn people into monsters…"

Yuri sharply turned his head to look at the boy, just as the researcher continued with:

"That's correct. And as Cruxis Crystals possess many of the same qualities as Exspheres, we believe it's possible that Colette is suffering from a parasitical infection by the Cruxis Crystal."

"I see," he heard Raine said, but he was busy looking at the young boy, as he seemed…depressed by something (he had seen that on Karol after the death of Don Whitehorse). "In which case, the ritual of releasing the seals may be promoting the fusion with the Cruxis Crystal."

Yuri looked up at her. "And…from what you guys said, the role of the Desians is to insinuate fear into everyone – even the Chosen – to make the process faster, right?"

"I believe so," the woman trailed off.

"So, if she got herself a Key Crest, she'd return to normal, right?" Zelos input his own guess.

"Yes," the man confirmed. "Cruxis Crystals seem to function the same way as Exspheres. Therefore, Colette would be able to freely control her crystal if she had a Key Crest."

"A Key Crest, huh?" Yuri turned his gaze on Lloyd, to see the boy practically shaking with excitement.

Yuri looked back at the man, and nodded. "Thanks for the info," he said, "Is that everything?"

The researcher nodded back. After a few more words between him and Zelos, he left the room.

"I wonder if we can get one somewhere…" He heard Lloyd said to himself once they were alone again.

Yuri made a single shrug. "We won't know until we look, right?" He said.

"I think I saw a couple of stalls outside," Gene piped in. "Maybe we could try to look around there."

"I guess it's the only thing we _can_ do…" Lloyd muttered.

Yuri just nodded.

And so, they spent nearly the whole afternoon looking through the local bazaar looking for something that resembled a Key Crest. Yuri didn't see the familiar person he thought he saw a while back – but Yuri didn't worry about it. Yet. The dark haired male was more concerned about helping these people cure their friend-

…Right.

Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals…they're the same. Nothing more than simple parasites – only that they feed off of Mana instead of blood. And…since Exspheres needed the life of a living person, they take in human lives-

Wait a second. He didn't know about that – and he still couldn't understand the concept of 'lifeless beings'. Apatheia is a crystalized core of an Entelexia – those are alive. He even heard a voice of an Entelexia when he turned the Apatheia back into Aer with Dein Nomos back in the Heracles – the damn thing was made with the purpose of taking down Entelexia; and putting the world in danger doing so.

Exspheres, however, are a very different matter. They were never alive to begin with. So why-?

"Yuri." The dark haired male looked at the source, seeing Raine giving him a look.

He blinked. "What?"

She didn't say anything – merely staring at him while crossing her arms and her eyes narrowed – at first. Then: "That was surprisingly knowledgeable of you to know something like that," she said, "Where exactly did you hear it?"

At that, Yuri had to pause. "I…I don't know," he said, sounding and feeling confused at the same time; as he looked away, feeling unsure, "It…just popped into my head." He rubbed the back of his head, trying to think.

In a way, it _did_ just pop into his head out of nowhere. But Yuri was sure that he hadn't heard of that before…did he?

Yet as he recounted the times where those…images had popped in suddenly, he isn't sure what he knew anymore… They didn't occur until he landed here in Tethe'alla…

Is it possible that-

"Hey, I think I found something!" Gene suddenly called, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Both of them turned to the source, seeing Lloyd rushing over and scanned the object the boy had collected. The teen picked it up – as the others walked over to them – and scanned it intently before he made a smile.

"Yeah, I think this will do," he said, before he looked back at the person who ran this stall. "How much?"

After a few minutes of bargaining with the man (who wanted ten thousand Gald for it – almost making Yuri punch him in the face for taking advantage of people in need) until Zelos dropped in and managed to get it for free. Afterwards, they once more played the waiting game as Lloyd worked on the Key Crest in the arts and craft room.

…Seriously, it felt that all this group did here is wait – sure there are times where he and his group had to wait as well (and waiting for the reinforcements to arrive back when he was in the knights) – yet, Yuri couldn't help but shake the feeling that something is wrong. He wasn't sure what it is, but…this whole town felt nothing but _wrong_. He felt one milky feeling out among the people…yet he felt a lot of them under their feet. As if- As if there are others down in the basement. And not once did any of them move where they were – as in move up with them. And…he couldn't help but feel that…they were being watched. He knew that Zelos is keeping tabs on them, but…there are a few unfamiliar soup broths keeping a distance – as if watching them from far away.

And that…was admittedly more unnerving than going through the ruins that had literally become a living monster and tried to kill them back when he was in the knights. And it was pretty much a pain in the ass…not to mention that it brought back bad memories-

The door to the room opened and all eyes turned to Lloyd who had just walked out. "All done?" Yuri asked.

He nodded and held up a…necklace? Yeah, a necklace. Why-?

"Oh, you changed the Key Crest into a necklace," Gene said. And, as if to Yuri's questioning look, he looked up to the dark haired male and answered, "Sometimes, Key Crests can be made into accessories, sometimes as a disguise. At least, that's what Lloyd told me," he added with a shrug.

Yuri slowly nodded. "Okay…I think I got it…"

The group crowed around Colette as Lloyd slowly approached her, the necklace in his hand. He looked over it for a moment, then heaved a great sigh – as if he was mentally preparing himself for this. He looked back up at the blonde, and said:

"I didn't think I'd be giving you your birthday present like this." He sighed again. "I've…attached a Key Crest to your necklace. It's late, I know, but…it's my present for you…" He trailed off, reaching out to pull the necklace's chain around her neck, clasping it in the back. It hung loosely, the red jewel on the pale golden yellow embedded in the center of the pendant contrasting with the white/blue colors of her clothing.

Nothing happened. There was no flash of light, no indication that anything had happened at all. Though, Yuri wasn't sure if _something_ was supposed to happen. But…for a while, there wasn't a change.

"…Colette? Can you hear me?" Lloyd tired, to see if it had worked at all.

…Yet there still isn't a change. Her unnatural red eyes are still there…and she's still unresponsive; she seemed to stare straight through Lloyd. Then, after an uncomfortable moment of silence, Gene slumped a little.

"It didn't work…" He said quietly.

"Huh? What's wrong with it?" Zelos let out as he leaned in, staring at the necklace and looking perplexed.

"I…I don't know," Lloyd answered, shaking his head. "Maybe…maybe I didn't do it right. That Key Crest was kinda beat up. We might need to find a different one. Maybe too much of the Inhibitor Ore was worn away."

"…Or maybe it's taking a while for it kick in?" Yuri put in, looking over her.

"…Perhaps we should try to find a dwarf…" The silver haired woman muttered.

"Sorry, but I don't know any dwarves," Zelos half-scoffed.

"Well, maybe Dirk can help," Gene spoke up.

'Dirk'? Oh, right; Lloyd told him that he was his adopted father. He looked over at the silver haired boy. "But isn't he back in Sylvarant?" He asked, pointing out the flaw in the plan.

"Yeah… Dirk's all the way back in Sylvarant," the boy sighed. "How the hell are we supposed to get back there since the Rheairds are out of fuel; and even if they aren't, they're probably too broken to work."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Zelos exclaimed, "I'm supposed to keep tabs on you, remember? I can't exactly let you go back to Sylvarant."

"C'mon Zelos!" Lloyd said, sounding desperate, "We HAVE to save Colette! I-I can't-!"

Yuri spotted something at the corner of his eye and immediately shushed everyone. He ignored whoever asked what was wrong, staring what he thought he saw. Was it his imagination, or-?

Something green.

"…I think we were being spied on," he said softly to them.

"Wha-?"

At that moment, things went to hell.

What Yuri had saw turned out to be knights – looking similar to the ones that were with the Pope – when they suddenly found themselves surrounded.

"Chosen One, we found you guilty for treason on betraying Tethe'alla!" One of them exclaimed.

"What the hell? !" Zelos exclaimed, "I wasn't about to let them return to Sylvarant or anything! We made an agreement, didn't we?"

"Silence, Chosen One, the same knight sneered a bit.

Zelos narrowed his ice blue eyes. "So that's it then," he muttered, "You're the Pope's men, aren't you?"

"The Pope-?" Lloyd was barely able to get out.

"So that's it then…" Yuri let out, his own eyes narrowed, "I had a feeling he's not going to let us go that easily."

"Wait, so you mean-?" Genis let out, before the Professor hissed out:

"I hardly see how you can take us in…"

"Be silent!" The leader exclaimed, "Arrest them and take a sample, but don't touch the angel!"

The knights surrounding them roughly grabbed most of them – besides Zelos – and-

"Ow-! What the hell-? !" Yuri let out, biting back a curse, glaring at the bastard that held his hand out.

But seriously, what the fuck? What the hell did that guard prick him with? ?

"What was that for? !" Lloyd snapped. He shifted his gaze over at the brunette, who had his right glove taken off for the same treatment (much like the others when he looked over the rest).

"It's because of the caste system here," Zelos explained, "Some half-elves here look identical to humans; so it's necessary to detect them."

"Necessary? !" Yuri snapped, "Does fucking cutting people have to be necessary-?"

A sharp gasp drew his attention to the guard holding him. "S-Sir-!" Then the knight shook him by the shoulders. "This one! His reading! It's…! It's strange, sir!"

Huh? The hell is he talking about? Is it because that…thing couldn't tell he's from neither Tethe'alla nor Sylvarant-?

"This one too!"

"Me? !"

"Lloyd-? !" The other gaped as Yuri stared at him in shock. What?

"What? Let me see!"

The one in charge looked at the device that had taken his blood, then at the one that had taken Lloyd's. But Yuri is just as confused as the rest of them – what the hell? First him, and now Lloyd; what's going on-?

"Sir! Matches! The two silver haired ones are half-elves!"

Everyone sharply turned to the sole silver haired people in the group – and Yuri never thought that he'd see Raine's face go completely pale as Gene's face looked terrified.

Raine tried to breathe through her clenched teeth (as if she's trying to not show fear) with her eyes closed…then she swallowed and looked up, looking defeated. "…Yes. That's right."

"R-Raine-! !" Gene stammered.

But, Yuri wasn't able to hear what they were saying. The…image he had saw back in the Crimson Chamber came back at him. Every part of him became frozen – his blood, heart, everything!

No…

"-to be executed immediately!"

"W-What? !" Lloyd exclaimed, "You can't-! !"

"You bastards…" He spoke softly, it was nearly unheard. "You can't judge them for what they are! You aren't any better than the rest!"

"Yu-"

"You let them go this instant!" He nearly snarled as he jerked his arm out of the guard's grasp, and kicked down the other and tried to run to the two-

"Restrain the man-!"

And Yuri felt someone kick him on the back and pinned him to the floor. "Hey-!"

"Yuri-!" He heard Lloyd exclaimed-

Before everything suddenly went black…

…

"…ri? Yuri?" He barely heard as he slowly came to.

He let out a groan, and his body twitched-

Damn! Did those freakin' knights hit him at the back of his head? ! He slowly pushed himself up and rubbed the back of his head, nearly hissing when he touched the tender spot. He groaned a little afterwards.

"Yuri? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" He let out when he looked over towards the source, seeing Lloyd looking down at him.

He took the offered hand and was pulled to his feet, and Yuri nearly swayed a little but caught himself, palming his forehead. "Ugh… Damn, what the hell happened?"

"You just flipped out when the Papal Knights took the Professor and the Brat away," he looked over at Zelos, who had his arms crossed – and he didn't look too happy about something. "One of them knocked you out, then they dragged all of us down here and ordered these half-elves here," he jerked his head to a couple of half-elves looking at them from where they stood, "to look over the blood samples from both you and Bud."

Wha-? Samples? What did he-?

Oh CRAP!

Yuri's mind went back into focus and he quickly looked around, to see where they're at. They seemed to be in a dimly lit lab. He muttered a curse under his breath – at least he isn't thrown in prison like back home…

"Presea?"

Yuri blinked and (barely noticing the pink haired girl moving away) turned to the source, seeing a teal-haired woman in a lab coat and had thick glasses-

He did a take and looked over at a couple of others in the room, barely aware of the woman staring at Presea in shock. …They all felt like milk-

Wait. Zelos said that these are half-elves…and Raine and Gene felt like milk, along with a bunch of the people back at the base…

Half-elves…felt like milk?

"-I don't care what race they are!" Lloyd's exclamation got him out of his thoughts and he looked over at the brunette in shock. "Executing them when they didn't do anything wrong…that's crazy!"

Zelos sighed. "Sorry, but…that's how it is over here. Just ask one of these guys." He gestured to the teal haired woman and a few others in the room.

The woman, who was standing closest to them, straightened her glasses and looked away – as if she felt…powerless.

"Anyway," the red head said, "speaking of half-elf treatment. The half-elves who work at the Imperial Research Academy never leave their labs…ever." Yuri winced at that, painfully reminded of the image he had seen. "How is it that you know Presea, then?"

After a moment, the woman let out a sigh. "…This child…she's my team's research sample."

Sample? What-?

"Research?" Lloyd had asked, looking alarmed. "What kind of research?"

The dark haired male noticed that the other half-elves in the lab looking uncomfortable. "…?" He let out, slightly confused (and apprehensive) of why they were like this.

The woman's voice was flat, emotionless, as she replied, "Research to manufacture Cruxis Crystals inside the human body."

Yuri flinched. "What?" His voice was sharp – much like her's.

He didn't notice a reaction from Lloyd, but he heard the boy ask, "…You can do that?" But the dark haired male noted that there was no curiosity in his tone.

"Yes," the woman said, "Theoretically, they are no different from Exspheres. By allowing them to slowly feed on a human body-"

"Stop," the dark haired male's eyes jerked to the brunette, who suddenly snapped, staring at the floor. "I've heard enough!"

"What…?" She muttered, and Yuri could hear the frown as he stared at the boy.

"That's the same way Desians make Exspheres! It's…its inhumane! How can you treat people that way? !" He demanded angrily.

Yuri looked back at the woman, who seemed to recoil, but then stared at Lloyd with quiet indignation. "…I could ask you the same thing. You humans don't treat us any differently."

Lloyd seemed to flinch at that, then gazed down. And Yuri couldn't help but feel worried – did what she said got to him-?

"That maybe so," he softly muttered, "And…there are humans who are just as cruel as Desians… But," he raised his head to look at the woman, his brown-red eyes filled with determination, "I treat half-elves the same as everyone else! Just because Desians are half-elves, or you guys or the Professor and Genis are half-elves… Genis and Professor are my friends! They, and everyone else – humans, elves, dwarfs, anyone – they all deserve to live! We're all alive! We're all the same!"

Yuri couldn't help but stare at Lloyd in awe. Whoa…that…kinda sounded like Flynn for a moment-

Wait. Is…Is that why it felt so easy to talk to him? Because Lloyd somehow reminded of him Flynn?

…No…it's something else. But what-?

"You're…not human, are you?" Yuri was kicked out of his thoughts again when he looked at the woman…who was looking at Lloyd?

"Huh? What makes you say that?" He asked, looking a bit weirded out.

"A human couldn't possibly be friends with half-elves…" she said.

"But Kate, what about Aster?" Another half-elf asked, "He's friends with Richter – and Richter _is_ a half-elf."

Ah, so her name's Kate. Rather average…but, again, when did he care about names?

Yuri decided to take the moment to try to talk to them. "Hey, Kate right?" He said, getting her attention, "You have to let us go – a couple of our friends are going to be executed if we don't catch up to them."

Kate looked wary…then narrowed her eyes. "Why should I trust you?"

Yuri narrowed her eyes back at her, and said with firm conviction – much like when Duke had asked them on why they were saving Estelle:

"Because they're one of us."

After his statement, everyone in the room had gone silent. Kate looked over at him in shock – and he could feel the eyes of the others on his back as they stared at him.

"You should listen to him, because they're both not from Tethe'alla."

A familiar voice spoke up and, suddenly he heard a couple of small explosion sounds near him. The source was the woman in purple robes, who suddenly appeared in a burst of smoke. "They're both strange, I'll admit, even though I barely knew Yuri," she said, "But as for Lloyd, he was raised in Sylvarant with half-elves and a dwarf."

"Sheena!" Lloyd let out in surprise – and Yuri was briefly surprised to see metal cuffs on the floor, the creepy pet looking up at Zelos (who seemed to make a disdained look at it). "What are you-?"

"I'll explain later," the woman – Sheena; her name is Sheena – cut off, "But right now, Genis and Raine are being taken to Meltokio. If we move fast, we might be able to catch up to them."

Lloyd nodded. "Let's go then!"

"Are you planning on running away?" Kate's question made them pause to look at her.

Yuri shook his head. "Haven't you been listening to us?" He asked, "We're going to save them because they're one of us. Would you really deprive your fellow kinsmen of their lives?"

"I…" She hesitated, taking a step back in response. "I won't let you trick me. There's no way…"

"Kate…" another one inched forward tentatively. "I did hear that two half-elves were arrested in the building."

The woman looked at him then stared at the floor, in silent contemplation. Yuri sighed, and shook his head.

"Look, you guys may have crappy lives – and I'm kinda in the same boat, since I grew up in the lower quarter from where I'm from. And commoners are treated like crap by a couple of knights and a lot of nobles – but you guys still have your own lives," he said, "And you guys have the freedom of making your own choice." He narrowed his eyes. "So make up your mind. What is that _you_ wanted to do?"

The woman flinched, the averted her gaze a little. Yuri couldn't swear he heard her mutter, '…no one has ever said that to me…'

Then she looked up at him. "Very well," she nodded, "If you promise me you'll come back here once you've saved your friends, then I'll let you go," she said. "If you prove that you've been telling the truth…I'll release Presea from her experiment.

"You promise?" Lloyd asked.

"I swear upon the name of the Goddess Martel."

Yuri nodded. "Alright," he said, "You have our word, too."

Kate nodded and walked over to a bookcase and pulled back a book. The case shook before it slid open. "This is a hidden passage you could use," she told them, "Just…" she hesitated and looked back at them, "Just come back here when you've got them."

"We well. Thank you," Lloyd exclaimed and they quickly hurried into the secret passage.

Yuri was barely aware of getting out into the evening, not caring about what was happening around him. They all rushed passed everyone to quickly get to the two half-elves. The dark haired male was barely aware of running past three people (once more seeing a familiar figure in red) and out into the field. They don't have a lot of time – if those bastards get to Meltokio before they managed to catch up to them-

He forced the thoughts out of his head when they had run into monsters. "Dammit!" Lloyd swore and pulled out his swords. "We don't have time for this!"

Lloyd had made a point – always, ALWAYS when they're in a rush, these freakin' monsters got in their way! It was, essentially, one of the times that Yuri didn't want to fight monsters; or knights; or guildsmen. But, most of the time, Yuri was excluded in the fights since the Professor didn't trust him – and she's the one who had his katana. So… he was basically screwed.

"Lloyd! Let me borrow one of your swords!" He exclaimed, punching away a wolf-like monster.

"Uh, okay!" Lloyd tossed him a sword and Yuri immediately took it in his hand-

And slashed a monster in front of him diagonally, a ribbon of blood flowing out of it from the deadly slice. Then he flipped it to his right hand and did a flip, taking down another, then stabbed another to the ground (his entire body in the air. Years of practice and training led up to this) and stabbed the next one as he came down. All in one motion. Running on adrenaline, he and Lloyd worked together to take down the monsters that tried to get close to Zelos as he casted his magic to help out. The battle was a blur to him – he was barely aware of Sheena cutting down things and blasting them away with cards(?) as Presea viciously took them down with her axe…and Colette cut down any monster that came near her with a flick of her wrist, a pair of Chakrams in her hands. All of them are nearly gone-

"Yuri!"

He barely heard the warning when he swiftly turned to see a monster leaping at him-

"FIREBALL!"

That voice.

The monster screeched as a rather large fireball nailed into it and seemingly screaming as it was burned alive…before the screams ceased and it stopped moving before becoming nothing but ash.

"Woah…" He heard Lloyd let out. But he was mostly focused on a person who had walked up to them.

"Sheesh, I've left you alone for a few days, and you wind up in trouble again," she said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot irritably.

Yuri just smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "Hey, you know, it's probably my curse biting me in the ass again."

She looked unimpressed. "Seriously, though, your pathological need to make my life difficult is getting on my nerves."

He just shrugged helplessly – even though he knew the others were looking at him in confusion. "Though, I never thought I'd say this, but am I glad to see you…"

Yuri smiled at the familiar girl in red, the famed genius mage from Aspio…and also his friend/comrade (though her Bohdi Blastia has a blue gem instead of red).

"Rita."

* * *

**THE CHAPTA! IT IS FINISHED! *falls over* Ugh...doing the Sybak part is a bitch…**

**But yay! Yuri found Rita! Now just *paused a moment to count off the other members that were sent to Sylvarant/Tethe'alla* eight more to go!**

**Rita: "What a minute, Estelle is stranded in one of the worlds somewhere? !"**

**Hey! Calm down! Even I'M not cruel enough to drop her off in an unforgiving place. But yeah, you're not alone as you thought Yuri.**

**Yuri: "Well that's great."**

…**Gee, don't sound TOO excited. Anyways, I'm sure that you guys had a lot of questions (even though some of you had your own hypothesis and whatnot) like, who did Yuri acquire something he shouldn't know about? What was so strange about his blood; along with Lloyd's? And will the group save Genis and Raine in time, with Rita tagging along? …If you've played the game, Tales of Symphonia, you should've known the answer to the last question by now…**

***immediately knocked out by a chalk thrown by said Professor***

**Raine: *tossing her chalk up and down, catching it* "The authoress is now unavailable to continue this note. But she wishes that you've at least enjoyed this chapter."**

**Yuri: *stared at the half-elf, his brow raised* "How the hell did you get here?"**

**Raine: "I have my ways."**

**Rita: *raised a brow as well* "Okay… anyways, leave a review if you want. The flames will be used as fuel to burn Zelos and the Old man."**

**Zelos and Raven: "Say what-?" *ran away screaming like little girls as Rita chased them, firing Flame Dragon along the way***


	11. Chapter 10

*with a bandage on her forehead* All that waiting for me to recover aside, here's chapta ten!

**Disclaimer: If you think I own what Namco/Bandai owns, you've got another thing coming. And besides, the owners will sue my ass if I said they're mine!**

* * *

Rita wasn't wrong when she had said that Yuri's pathological need to make her life difficult is annoying is the truth. Seriously, if she had known what sort of mess she'd get herself in by leaving Aster and Richter to go after him and these…other people, then she should've stayed with them instead of running what felt like ten miles at breakneck speed to reach a couple of half-elves that she managed to hear got arrested and are sent to the capitol to be executed. But, unfortunately, it's too late to change her mind – yet she figured Estelle would never forgive her if she just let two people get executed for what they didn't do. …According to what Yuri had managed to explain on the way to the bridge.

Of course, after a brief introduction for both ends by Yuri, they all high-tailed it towards the bridge to catch up to the two half-elves and the knights that were herding them off; she threatened to Fireball that guy in pink's ass if he ever touched her. She even conjured a fireball to prove her point. He left her alone afterwards.

Although they were now running on the bridge, Rita didn't have the time to admire the strange lights that were on the side of the bridge. With every step the girl had taken, she was cursing in her mind about how tired she was getting – it's nearly like the time when they had to return to Zaphias…without Ba'ul as their ride, and having been blasted away by Estelle's power when they had awakened. Both parts sucked; a _lot_.

After running for what felt like another agonizing ten minutes, and when Rita felt that her lungs were going to explode, she saw something in the distance. Torches?

"That must be them!" the guy in red puffed out.

Suddenly, they winked out. Then the sound of moving machine parts drowned out their breathing and a part of the bridge had started to rise. And Rita heard Yuri spat out a curse.

"They're trying to cut us off!" He panted, trying to yell over the sound of the moving bridge.

"Any bright ideas? !" The female mage shouted.

Before Yuri could say anything, the guy in red shouted, "We've gotta jump it!"

"WHAT?!" Rita was sure she wasn't the only who shouted that as they all screeched to a halt.

Then she smacked him on the head. "Ow-!"

"Are you nuts? !" She shouted at him, "If we fall from there, we'll die! There's no way in hell we'll be able to jump that!"

"But if we abandon them, they'll die, too!" He insisted, tenderly rubbing his head as they – except for the blonde girl and pink haired girl (both of them with the creepy looks in their eyes) because they didn't look winded – panting heavily to get some air into their lungs.

"Damn…if only we had our own bridge or something…" Yuri muttered as he glared at the rising bridge.

"Wait…bridge… Yuri, you're a genius!" The woman in purple exclaimed, and they all looked over at her. "I'll call upon Undine so that she'll make a shortcut to get us over there."

"Who the hell is Undine?" Rita had questioned as she got into a stance of sorts.

A glyph – one just as different as her own (and Estelle and Old Man's) and Richter's casting glyphs – appeared under her feet. "I call upon the Maiden of the Mist. I summon thee…Come forth, Undine!" When she thrust her hand in the air, a large ball of water suddenly appeared above them and exploded. They all curled away at that for a moment – as if the water might splash onto them – but the water immediately returned to the center of where the ball was once at and formed a…humanoid shape. Once it was formed, a woman (the strange skin on her made her almost half-naked; yet with fish-like features on them) appeared above them – and she opened her red eyes. And Rita nearly fell at the large waves of Mana that seemed to seep out of this being.

"…I am at your service, Summoner Sheena," the woman said, staring down at…Sheena if she heard (and remembered) right.

"Undine! Please take us to the other side of the drawbridge!" She said immediately.

She paused to look over at the rising bridge, and looked back at her-

Her eyes seemed to have widened when she looked at something. Rita raised her brow and looked at what the spirit is looking at-

Yuri was giving her the same look he had given Ba'ul before they left for Zaude – the same wide eyed expression then like he was making now; the same as the…spirit seemed to be making at him. Rita raised an eyebrow at that – but the spirit broke the gaze and nodded to the group. "As you wish."

She raised one hand, and they heard the roaring of rushing water. When they ran to the side of the bridge, they leaned over the rails (or slightly for a couple with common sense)-

Rita could've sworn her jaw would've fallen off as she watched a thick curtain of water rising up from the sea, and it started to form…a bridge next to the bridge itself. It looked like an oddly shaped geyser; but the brunette female felt a little biased about this…

Though her thoughts were dispelled as the Sheena woman climbed over the rail and stepped onto the water bridge. To her surprise (one of the many since she arrived here) her feet settled neatly on the rushing water…as if it was a solid structure.

She nodded and looked back at the others. "Don't worry; the bridge's fine," she assured them, "Let's go!"

The guy in red nodded and practically vaulted himself over the railing, along with Yuri, and they took off ahead without losing their balance at all. The weird girl with pink hair and an axe over strapped to her back climbed over and followed them while that…Colette girl simply flew over – which made her uneasy at first since she was reminded of the weirdo in white that might've attacked Yuri – without any trouble at all.

Leaving her with that guy in pink. "Well, now, shall I help you up?" He asked, making a small grin.

A swift chop to his head – in which he yelped and held his head – was her answer. "Not on your life," she growled – this guy reminds her of the Old Man the longer she's with him. And, like the Old Man, he irritates her – then she clambered over the rail and raced along the water-bridge after the others. It felt like a minute before Rita jumped over the railing again and – quickly looking around to locate the others – dashed after the pinkish glow of Colette's wings. Yet the female mage felt a little unnerved since she couldn't see the figures that were Yuri, that Sheena woman and that guy in red besides the two she was sure were…Presea(?) and Colette. Were they further ahead?

That hope was dashed when the four of them caught up – with the other three still nowhere in sight – with the knights she had noticed taking away two people with silver hair. A woman…and a kid – and the kid seemed to be around the same age as Karol, too! What the hell?

The knights had taken notice of the (now) quartet…and Rita had counted ten of them – and they were more heavily armored than the Imperial Knights back in Terca Lumireis. This – again – sucked.

"You!" The presumed leader said in a snarl, pointing his halberd at them threateningly. "You escaped? ! Stop where you are!"

"Wait, the two with the weird samples are missing captain!" One of them spoke, making Rita blink. What?

She shook her head and stepped forward. "Listen, I have no idea what you thought those two have done," she spoke up, "And frankly, I wouldn't have cared if they had done something wrong. But a guy told me that they didn't – and that everyone here treats half-elves like crap, from another guy that I've recently met. But, I'll ask you _nicely_: Let those two go, _and_ we might go easy on you."

The knights stared at her…before they started to howl with laughter. "Four of you against ten of us?!" The leader said, still laughing, "That's stupid! You're clearly out-numbered."

Rita narrowed her eyes. _'Wrong answer,'_ she thought before a casting glyph appeared under her feet. She decided to see if she could use an Intermediate spell now.

She made a smirk – one that would make even a couple of battle hardened knights and guildsmen crap themselves – and merely said, "I little test…!"

She thrust her hand and shouted: "STALAGMITE!"

Immediately, a rather large stalagmite – bigger than the one she casts – appeared under a couple of knights and sent them flying (the two of them screaming like sissies) before they crashed onto the ground harshly a few feet away.

And that made the other knights stop laughing; turning their attention to her (and she had a feeling that they were gawking at her – along with the two silver haired siblings still in captive). "What the hell? !" The leader shouted, "She could use magic? !"

"Damn right she could!" Yuri's voice shouted before he dropped in from nowhere and drop kicked one of the knights near the boy in blue as the guy in red took down the other near the woman in orange, and Sheena taking down the one behind the two. As the dark haired man straightened up, he was unsheathing his katana (but didn't toss away the sheath like he would usually do) and made a savage grin. "And you bastards took my sword – thanks for giving it back to me. For an award, you'll get an ass whooping for arresting two wrong people."

"Typical," Rita muttered under her breath-

Before hell broke loose - again. Yuri and the guy in red fought off the knights around the two silver haired people with their swords, the guy in pink using what seems to be Light Spear as that Sheena woman fought off a couple with – at first she thought her eyes were deceiving her – cards of sorts. Presea was using her axe and is surprisingly holding her own against a few of them as well; Colette as well.

As for herself…she was unleashing hell on them. Firing a Champagne and a Stone Blast, followed by Spread Zero – these knights didn't stand a chance against all of them…despite being exhausted from all that running.

It wasn't long until all of the knights were down. Rita had to catch her breath for a little bit as the guy in red – no, wait…she believes his name was Lloyd (from what Yuri had called him) – hurried over to the two silver haired people and (with skills that rivaled Karol's in terms of lock-picking) took the handcuffs off of them, said metal shackles falling to the ground.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked, once their hands were free – and she decided to approach along with the others.

"Uh…Y-Yeah, but…" the boy in blue stammered.

"You…came back for us?" The woman in orange asked softly, as if she was in disbelief.

"Well, duh!" Lloyd said, looking a bit put off, "Of course we did!"

"But…" the boy in blue let out. "But we're half-elves."

"So what?" Yuri said, raising an eyebrow as if it was a stupid question. "It really didn't depend on what race you guys are. It's not your fault you couldn't control what you are."

"He's right," Lloyd nodded, not giving the two a chance to speak. "Who cares about what you are? Who cares about what or who your parents are? And who cares about what others think? You guys are my friends – and I would never abandon you guys even if I found out you guys were half-elves, after everything we had been through." He got down on one knee and looked at the boy in blue in the eye. "You guys are great…just for being _who_ you are; and of the way you are."

"…" In the light of the full moon, Rita could see tears well up in the boy's eyes. "W-We are? Really?" At Lloyd's nod – without any hesitance – the boy clenched his teeth and all but threw himself on him. "Lloyd!" He cried out, and cried into his red shirt, Lloyd holding him and letting him cry. "Thank you, Lloyd!"

After watching the kid sob (in happiness) Rita turned her attention to the woman in orange – seeing her discreetly wiping away a tear – and seemed to hesitate before she asked, "…What about the rest of you? Do you have any objections to us coming along?"

"Eh, where I'm from, commoners are always treated like crap by nobility," she looked at Yuri went he spoke up, making a shrug. "So…I guess we're kinda the same, all things considered. And besides, I have a lot of unusual friends; so I don't consider myself normal."

"The people of Mizuho have been ostracized for hundreds of years," she looked over at Sheena when she spoke up. "Our culture's completely different from the rest of Tethe'alla's, and our relations with the Church are shaky at best. We look different, we speak our own language, and our village is completely hidden from the rest of the world. So yeah, like Yuri said, we're all not that different."

"…Well, to tell you the truth, I can't say I'm really cool with this," she turned her head to look at the red haired guy in pink as he scratched the side of his cheek. "But it's just the way we're brought up here in Tethe'alla. 'Half-elves are bad people', that's what everyone tells us."

"But it's not true!" Lloyd pointed out immediately.

The guy just rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but…knowing it is one thing. It's overcoming the idea that's been beaten into you since childhood is an entirely different story." After a moment, he just crossed his arms. "But hey, don't pay any attention to me. I'm just tagging along; and…kinda like you said, my opinion might not matter. And besides, people have always treated me differently, too…so I guess in a way we're a lot alike." He finished with a shrug.

Yet Rita couldn't help but feel that there's more to it – but she dropped it. She heard sniffling and turned to the boy in blue – who was wiping the tears off his cheeks – who looked over at Presea.

"P-Presea…? What about you?"

She merely turned her blank eyes on him. After a short pause, she said, "I…just want to go home."

'_Uh…that's one way to respond,'_ Rita thought, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid in blue when his face fell – she was reminded of Karol at his feeble attempts on trying to impress Nan.

"I see…" She heard the woman in orange say quietly, and then sighed. "All right, then."

"Welcome back to the group, you two," Lloyd said cheerfully, getting up while helping the boy in blue up.

"Th-Thanks…" He said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his face.

"Okay…all emotional things and stuff aside," Rita spoke up after a minute, "What the hell are we supposed to do now? Those knights might have reinforcements coming here."

"Yeah…I'd rather not have round two with a bunch of the Pope's men," Yuri said.

The woman in orange regarded Rita for a moment before she began to rub her chin. "Hmm…Perhaps we should try to find shelter for now," she said – though Rita noted it had hesitance in it. When no one said anything, she continued (looking confident), looking at Sheena. "Sheena, are there any forests near here where we can hide?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It'll take a few minutes to get there, though."

The woman in orange nodded back. "Let's get moving then."

"Aw, _what_?" The guy in pink exclaimed, "We have to camp out _again_? ?" Rita groaned internally – again, this guy reminded her more and more about the Old Man the longer she's with him.

"Suck it up," Yuri told him, "Estelle put up camping better than you."

"'Estelle'?"

"One of our friends," he just answered – and didn't say anything about it. And Rita agrees why; none of them wanted to reveal too much about Estelle and of her abilities – to the boy in blue and added, "She's one of the nobles that are friendlier than the ones I knew."

"Wait, she's a noble?" Lloyd asked.

"Whoa-ho! A noble eh?" The guy in pink made a grin – one that looked _really_ familiar. "A name like that must mean she's a total cutie! How come I never knew anyone named that back at Meltokio-?"

"YAH!"

"OOF! !" The guy in pink fell to the ground, clutching his stomach from Rita's punch.

"Don't you _even_ **think** about it, you sleazebag!" She shouted at him, "If you ever touch Estelle wrong – or if I _ever_ catch you doing something to her to what she doesn't want to do, I'll rip off your libido with Blade Roll-" when she relearns the spell that is, she mentally added, ignoring the yelp coming from the man, "-then I'll burn it to hell with Spiral Flare and force you eat it! Is that clear? !"

"C-Crystal…" he muttered from the ground.

"Good." She turned her head to the others – Lloyd and the boy in blue flinching – and said, "Let's blow this dump." Then she stalked off.

She heard Yuri said to the guy in pink, "You should listen to her, Zelos. Chosen or not, she won't hesitate to kick your ass – as you've already seen."

Huh, so that guy was the Chosen of this world – and who the hell would name their kid 'Zelos'? Eh, she heard worse names.

"Lloyd…I'm scared," she heard the boy in blue whimper.

"Me too, Genis." She nearly fell over when she heard the name – Genis? Really? She couldn't – honestly – believe that someone would call their kid that. And, again, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid.

After a few minutes of walking, the group found themselves in the cover of the trees above them. Once they found a spot – clear enough to camp in, but also so that they'll still be covered from whoever might find them – they deemed it as their temporary campsite to rest for the night. Sheena was asked to find some water and she took (more like dragged) Zelos with her, the strange fox creature with her following. Then Lloyd was asked to bring firewood and asked Yuri if he wanted to tag along – the dark haired swordsman just shrugged and the two walked into the woods to find some.

Rita couldn't help but raise her brow at how…casual – and at ease – Yuri was around him. Sure there are times where Yuri is like this…but, somehow, she was getting a feeling that Yuri…must have befriended that guy pretty quick.

Though, why does she care? Yuri might've known these guys longer than she did – she was, in a way, a newcomer to the group. Or rather, this new group, since Yuri already knows her – and probably befriended one of them.

"Hey," she turned her head to look at the boy – ugh, she didn't want to use his name; it'll only bring a disturbing image in her head – who approached her, since she was sitting on a large rock.

"What?" She asked – she's too tired to do anything right now.

The kid flinched at the tone, twiddled his fingers a little – as if he isn't sure if he should talk to her or not – then looked back at her. "You…seemed unaffected when you heard that we're half-elves…" He said, "Did you already know that we're…half-elves?"

She sighed. "Look, I don't particularly care what race a person is," she said – becoming completely honest, "Back where I'm from, a lot of people avoided me as the 'weirdo researcher who flings Fireballs at people'."

"You really can do magic?" He asked, raising his silver brow in surprise.

"Duh. Everyone in Terca Lumireis are capable of using magic as long as they have a Bodhi Blastia," she answered as if it was an obvious question.

"So you're from 'Terca Lumireis' as well?" They both turned their heads as the woman in orange approached her.

Rita narrowed her eyes a little – the tone the woman was using seemed like she was suspicious. But, she answered, "Yeah. I am; what's it to you?"

The woman merely just looked over her with the indigo-blue eyes, the stoic look almost reminding the genius mage of Judith – if Judith didn't have that distrusting gaze in her eyes.

Then the woman asked, "Your Bodhi Blastia…may I see it?"

The young brunette girl raised her eyebrow at that, but, reluctantly, started to take it off. "Alright…"

After placing the Blastia in the woman's hand, she looked over the small chocker-necklace for a few moments. Then she looked back at the girl. "How exactly did you managed to make your Bodhi Blastia work since Sylvarant and Tethe'alla doesn't have Aer? And before you ask, Yuri told us about where he was from a couple of days ago," she added before Rita could open her mouth.

Rita slowly closed her mouth after she heard that – well… that kinda explains how she knew about Terca Lumireis and Blastia. But the female mage had a feeling that Yuri didn't tell them _everything_ about Blastia, Aer and such.

But she decided to at least explain on how she managed to get her Blastia to work. "Remember when I mentioned a guy who told me that everyone here treats half-elves like crap?" She first asked. When they nodded, she continued, "That guy is a half-elf and he helped me out with modifying my Blastia to absorb Mana instead of Aer."

The two of them looked surprised. "Really?" The boy in blue let out.

"Yup," she nodded, "He and this other guy – Aster – are pretty much the only people I hung out with ever since I landed here."

"'Landed'?" He parroted.

She made a thoughtful look. "…I don't exactly have all the details, but the two of them were out one night when they saw four streaks of light spreading out. Two headed off in one direction – which Richter told me is Flanoir – one headed somewhere over at Ozette, and one landed several feet from them."

"And that streak was you, correct?" The woman in orange questioned.

"Yeah." She nodded.

The woman in orange turned from her and rubbed her chin a little. The boy in blue looked up at her. "…Raine?"

'_So that's her name…'_ Rita thought, finally knowing the name of the woman in orange.

After she thought that, Raine moved her hand and slowly nodded. "I see…"

"Huh? See wha-?"

"WE'RE BACK!" She and the kid in blue – who got his question cut off – nearly fell over in shock at the exclamation. They looked over to the source to see Lloyd and Yuri returning – with Lloyd being the source – the red clad moron waving as he had a rather large bundle of wood under his left arm as Yuri had two bundles under each arm.

Said dark haired male raised his brow a little. "Are you getting acquainted with Raine and Gene, Rita?"

It didn't take Rita long to figure out who 'Gene' is. She shrugged at the question. "You can say that."

She held out her hand to Raine, in a gesture to say 'give it here'. Raine placed the Bodhi Blastia onto her hand after a moment, and the young female mage put it back on. "Thanks."

"Seems like we're running low on supplies," she turned to Yuri when he spoke up, digging around in a bag. "But…" He trailed off when Yuri looked over at them. "Hey Raine, can I have my stuff back?"

"You're going to check if you got any food?" Rita guessed at what he wanted to do, raising her brow a bit.

"Yup, and…" Yuri made a grin as he pulled something out from in his shirt. "You'd think Zelos would get mad when he finds out I kinda…'borrowed' some Gald to get some things from the food shop back in Sybak?"

"…You _stole_ some of his money to get those?" The kid – she decided to call him Gene as well – said, looking incredulous.

He shrugged. "Either eat or go hungry."

Rita could hear Raine sighing, exasperated; and Rita felt like she was going to do the same. "You know, Flynn will kick your ass – and send you to jail – if he heard about this," she said.

"Who's Flynn?" Lloyd asked.

"He's Yuri's childhood friend-"

The answer barely left her mouth before they all heard a sudden _thunk_ and an irritated "_Zelos!_" before they all turned to the source. The source was Sheena yelling at the red haired man, a bucket of water in her hand…as the said man seemed to freeze, a bucket on the ground with its contents spilled out. The wide eyed expression the man had man vanished at the next moment and he made a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Whoops," he said, "My bad. Didn't mean to drop it."

Sheena let out an aggravated groan. "Idiot Chosen!"

"Zelos…is clumsy," Rita nearly jumped when she heard the pink haired girl; the brunette nearly forgot that the girl is there!

"Ow! Why is everyone being mean to me all of a sudden?" Yup, he's like the Old Man, Rita thought with a bored look on her face, especially with that whine. So, with an annoyed look, she demanded:

"Would you just shut up?"

_**~o~**_

The jail cell is silent; just as it usually is on most days. Other prisoners would come and go – most sent off to the Coliseum to fight to the death against monsters that have started to appear; some would just be executed for a crime that they had committed…and there are others that are able to bail, and become paroled.

But not him.

How long has it been since…IT happened? A few years, maybe? There are times that he didn't feel the years go by – everything outside of the cell felt (and looked) the same. Despite the time that had went by, however, he would never leave this place – not willingly.

A lot of people had known who he is – and most couldn't understand why he could've asked his assistant to post bail, or talk his way to gain parole. He isn't like that; but, he could also understand why people would say that. Yet…

Yet they couldn't understand how important this 'servant' is…to him. Every time, whenever he thought about his crime, whenever he thought about her…his heart is being torn apart by the guilt he had within him, the guilt of what he had done…

And what he should've done, to prevent it.

But he knew that, even if he did, somehow, pay for his crime, somehow get himself out of jail…he would never – _never_ – be atoned for the crime. Never forgiving himself for what he had done – and he was sure that Alicia's father and sister, wouldn't forgive him as well.

He understands though – because, who could ever forgive a murderer? He took away someone precious to them – even when Alicia is just as precious to him.

If he has to stay in the cell until the day he dies – or if he is sent off to be executed or forced to fight to the death in the Coliseum – then so be it. Perhaps…one day, he will atone for his crime-

The metal door creaked open. With his eyes closed, he listened as the knights calmly walked down the steps into the jail, their metal boots making 'clanking' noises as they stomped on the cold stone ground. They must be bringing in new prisoners, he reasoned, yet he somewhat frowned in confusion when they seemed to get louder. Are they heading for his cell?

Some of them stopped at other cells and…the doors to them opened he heard the knights order some of the other prisoners out of their cells. Some of them were asking why while others just do as they said.

He heard some coming at his cell and…like the others, opened the door. He opened his eyes and looked over at the knights.

A blue brow rose a little at what he saw. _'The Pope's Knights? What are they doing here?'_ He asked himself, slightly puzzled.

"Out," one of the knights ordered, "The Pope would like to have a word with you."

His eyes narrowed slightly at this, but he stood up all the same. He calmly walked out of his cell and stood in the center of the other knights, the four of them boxing him in so that he wouldn't bolt – but, even though it's a safety precaution, he wouldn't dare try to leave.

As he walked down the aisle, he took note of the other knights talking to the other prisoners in hushed tones. He isn't sure what they were talking about, but some of the prisoners looked excited about something. What it is, he had a feeling he's going to find out.

After they lead him at the top of the stairs, he blinked at who was waiting for them. "Duke Regal Bryant," the Pope spoke up, "I understand that you have turned yourself in for the crime of murdering one of your servants."

The bluenette had to clench his hands; at how casual the Pope had spoken about the crime. But he quickly calmed himself, and said, "Is there something you wish to talk to me about?"

Straight to the point – he was once the president of the Lezareno Company after all. And he had a feeling the Pope knew about that, and he said:

"The Chosen Zelos had betrayed Tethe'alla and is trying to destroy our world."

The ex-President's eyes went wide. "What?"

The Pope nodded. "It seemed that the people from Sylvarant had somehow made him go on their side," he explained, "And I received word that he and the Sylvaranti had escaped somehow, along with two half-elves."

Somehow, he had a feeling that the Pope was holding back something. But Regal had no idea what it is.

The Pope continued, "So, I'm going to make you an offer. If you and the other prisoners managed to capture the Chosen Zelos and his companions, along with a girl named Colette…I will grant you freedom."

He blinked. What-?

"I will grant you full pardon for your crimes," the Pope added, "Or, if that isn't enough, I shall do anything within my power to fulfill your want – no matter what it is."

He did a take. Fulfill his want…?

The ex-Duke hung his head a little, considering the proposal. If…If he managed to capture the Chosen of Tethe'alla AND Sylvarant's Chosen… Then…

He held his head up. "I only have one request."

"And that is?"

"…I want the Exsphere Broker by the name of Vharley to be arrested." That's the only thing he wished – if that man was put away, then…then at least Alicia and her family would get justice-

A flicker of shock went through the Pope's eyes before it was gone in the instant. "…I will see what I could do…" Somehow, there was something in the Pope's tone that made the martial artist suspicious. "Do we have a deal?"

The blue haired man looked over at the Pope's outstretched hand, offering a handshake to seal the deal. Then at the man's face, back at the hand…before he reluctantly reached out and shook it.

Letting go of the Pope's hand, the blue haired man looked up at him. "What is it that you want me to do?"

If he had to hurt someone…he'll do whatever it takes to give Alicia justice.

Yet, how come he couldn't shake off this unease that appeared in his chest?

* * *

**LILIUM! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DAMN SAD? ! But, that last part was pretty hard to type… At least I've managed to finish this chapter.**

**And so the Sage siblings are rescued and Regal made a cameo appearance! (Not sure if I got the fighter's character right, though; including Rita… Could you give me a holler if I did or didn't?)**

**Yuan: "The hell are you worried about? I only appeared in one chapter."**

**Hey, even KRATOS didn't have any screen time. …So I figured that maybe, next chapter, you, Pronyma and Kratos will appear next chapter, or something… I honestly don't know, yet.**

**Yuan: "Hmph."**

**Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review – seriously, 40? Wow! I didn't know you guys liked this a lot! I love you all.**

**Kratos: "And the flames?"**

**ACK! When did you get-? …Never mind… Um…share s'mores with your son? Sorry, I've always wanted to try it… Mmm… *drools***

**Yuan and Kratos: "…"**

**Karol: *pops in from under the 'screen'* "Stay tuned for the next chapter!"**


	12. Chapter 11

Um…I honestly don't know what to say on here, except, here's a new chapter.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"…So this is Fooji Mountains?"

"Yup," Sheena responded to Yuri's question, as all of them looked up at the mountain.

"Whoa, you mean we have to climb up this to get up _there_?" Zelos asked, his voice sounding incredulous.

"Suck it up," Rita told him before they heard a _smack_ and an 'OWW!' from Zelos.

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head, looking up at the mountains himself. True, it really wasn't the idealistic way to land the Rheairds at the summit of these mountains but…they DID run out of fuel. And they were kind of in a rush to escape from the Renegades and get to safety. And they really didn't have anything to carry the damn things, since, in a way, they _are_ kind of useful.

It took them a few days to get back here after the whole fiasco at the bridge – the only reason they only went back here because Zelos had said that he had a secret of sorts on retrieving the Rheairds. That's good right? Once they got the Rheairds, they'll try to make a pact with Volt (since Sheena didn't make the pact with said Summon Spirit) to fuel the Rheairds. Yet why is he having a feeling that something…was going to happen? He wasn't sure what the feeling was but…it made his stomach churn, making him feel uneasy about it.

"Well, the Rheairds aren't going to get themselves," he heard the Professor sigh. "We best go."

"Oh, uh, right," the male brunette nodded as the elder half-elf started to lead, and he followed behind her, along with the others.

As they climbed _up_ the mountains – in the first few minutes, he was getting pretty tired with the steep parts the mountain seems to have – Lloyd thought back to the last couple of days that had happened since they arrived in Tethe'alla.

Damn, they had been through a lot, hadn't they? The only reason why they came here was because they wanted to save Colette – which seemed moot at this point until they could get back to Sylvarant and ask his dad to help them – but they ended up becoming fugitives because (and Yuri quotes) the Pope's a paranoid bastard and didn't want them to complete the Regeneration Ritual. Like hell they will, because, Colette is…important to him. He didn't know to what extent though, but…lately, he felt this weird ache in his chest, whenever he thought about the better times before all of this happened.

Not only that, but…there was the truth that Raine and Genis were half-elves the whole time, since they said that they were elves since they arrived at Iselia five years ago. But he understands the reason – the Desians made everyone in Sylvarant hate and fear other half-elves. At the time, he wouldn't care if he had killed any of them – because, he thought that all of them are evil – but he knew better now. Just because the Desians are half-elves doesn't mean that other half-elves are bad; there are also bad humans out there that hurt other people. But no one else seems to think that, during his journey around Sylvarant. And during the short time he had in Tethe'alla, he couldn't help but be sickened that a lot of people treated half-elves like crap – and executing half-elves for whatever crime they did (or didn't) commit? What the hell?

Then there's Yuri and Rita, two people who came from a world really different than Sylvarant and Tethe'alla – with 'Aer', 'Blastia', and 'Krityans'; no Mana, Exspheres and elves. But just because their world – Terra Lumries (at least he thought it was called) – is different from this world and Sylvarant doesn't mean that it's perfect. From what Yuri had hinted at, there are also a lot of people over there that are…bad. Like the Desians, but…much worse. Desians are only oppressing humans because other humans treated them badly…but there are humans over at their world that would gladly hurt other people (he would usually catch the two of them talking about 'Alexei' and 'Zagi' at times) – usually for no reason sometimes! He often wondered why people would do such things to each other – everyone is…alive; they're all living beings. What's so wrong with living? Everyone has a purpose once they're born – it's just…everyone had to find their path in life, even Colette and everything else in the world.

He just doesn't get why Yggdrasill would make everyone else suffer-

"Oof!" He let out when he bumped into Zelos' back when the red haired Chosen just suddenly stopped. Said Chosen spun his arms in a windmill fashion to keep his balance then stepped forward, saving himself from falling.

After sighing in relief, he looked over at the red clad brunette in irritation. "Hey, c'mon Bud! You almost made me fall!" He exclaimed.

"H-Hey! You just stopped all of a sudden!" Lloyd exclaimed, "I didn't do it on purpose you know!"

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his pale blue eyes.

"Any particular reason why you stopped?" Yuri asked.

Zelos just tilted his head a little, looking a little thoughtful. "I dunno. I'm getting a weird feeling that we were being followed."

"Huh? That can't be right," Genis said, voicing out their confusion.

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, "I thought that we've managed to leave before the reinforcements could arrive."

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," Rita agreed, using the same tone the Professor would use when she's suspicious.

"Hey, hey," he shrugged, "I'm just saying what I thought I felt. Though…I don't feel right just dismissing it straight away, so…"

A moment of silence went by them after he trailed off, the group staring at him. Then Yuri heaved a sigh. "Okay, fine," he said, "If it'll make you feel better, I'll go and see if we're followed."

"That-a boy!" Zelos grinned, "I knew you still love me!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yuri just waved it off as he walked back down the path.

After he was gone, the male brunette heard Genis asking Rita, "Is he always like this?"

"Most of the time," was her answer.

"Mmkay! Shall we get going my hunnies?" The red clad boy looked over at the red heard Chosen in shock as he began to continue up.

"H-Hey! Shouldn't we wait for Yuri to get back?" He asked, concerned for the dark purple haired man.

"Don't worry about it," Zelos waved it off, "Yuri's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"Well, that is true…" Rita muttered, "But…"

Lloyd looked over the red clad female in confusion, letting out a questioning grunt. "What?"

After a moment, she shook her head. "It's nothing," she said before she started to follow the male Chosen. The others followed soon after, and, with great reluctance, so did Lloyd.

After a while – Lloyd wasn't sure how long they had been climbing. To him, it felt like an hour or so, but he isn't sure – the red clad male walked next to Rita in the same pace. "Say, uh, Rita, right?"

"What is it?" She asked, not looking at him.

"I gotta ask," he scratched the side of his head a little, before he said, "How long have you known Yuri?"

Rita looked over at him, startled, then rubbed her chin a little. "I don't know…a few months maybe?"

Lloyd blinked his russet eyes. "Maybe?" He parroted.

"I honestly don't know how long to be exact," she clarified, "The guy just literally barged into my hut one day."

"Really?" Genis joined into the conversation, walking in pace with the two, "Why'd he do that?"

"Some creep was using my name to steal a Blastia core in the Lower Quarter," she answered, "It was a pain in the ass when we learned that there are others who are pretending to be mages to steal other Blastia cores because they were hired by Barbos."

"Barbos?" Lloyd tilted his head a little.

"A one eyed big guy with a mace for a hand," she answered, running a finger downward over her right eye, "He's a leader of a guild called the Blood Alliance – mercenaries that could work for anyone with a lot of money…until he fell down to his death when he kicked his ass."

"What's a 'guild'?" He asked.

"Well-" she began-

A strange chill went up his spine – and he could've sworn he heard someone screaming in pain – for a moment, but it was gone in an instant. But it made him stop and looked behind him, his eyes wide in shock. "…Huh?"

"Lloyd?"

"Huh?" He looked over at Genis, who was looking back at him along with the others, some looking concerned.

"…What is it?" Sheena asked, turning to face him.

"…Uh…" He looked behind him again then shook his head, "I-I don't know. I just felt a chill go up my spine."

"A chill…?" The Professor asked, her brow raised a little.

Not trusting his voice, he just nodded.

Another moment of silence went by before everyone slowly started to turn to continue up – it's not like anyone would could figure out what just happened. Lloyd started to follow them but paused for a moment and looked back again. "…What was that scream…?" He asked himself before he hurried to catch up.

It was a while later – before Lloyd could complain about how his feet hurt from walking _up_ the mountain (the Ossa Trail didn't really count, since it's merely just a trail in a mountain side) – he heard Genis exclaim, "Hey, I could see a part of the Rheaird!"

He looked at the direction he pointed and nearly sighed in relief. He could see a tip from the bottom fin of the Rheaird they had used to escape – that means that they had reached the top!

But there's one more thing they had to do. He turned to Zelos as soon as they all clustered together on the path. "So…what's your big plan?" He asked.

"Ah, right," he said, smiling. "C'mere for a sec. I'll show you," he moved his hand to beckon them as he started walking out into the clearing ahead.

Lloyd gave a glance over at Genis before they started to follow him. As soon as they reached the center of the clearing, though, he could've sworn he heard a low _click_. It seemed he wasn't the only one who heard it when the others (except for Presea and Colette) started to look around; as they did, he heard Rita mutter, "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

Before he could ask what she meant, a weird…cage with orange colored diamond shaped…things appeared around the group!

"What the hell? !" Rita exclaimed in shock as Lloyd looked around in shock. His blood nearly froze when he noticed that Colette was outside of the cage…while the rest of them were inside this thing!

"Wh-What's going on? !" He let out, just as confused as the others.

"I can answer that," the red clad male nearly swore a profanity he had heard back in Sylvarant when he heard that familiar voice. He – and the others – turned to the source-

"YUAN!" He exclaimed at the sight of the blue haired, cape wearing man, his arms crossed and smirking at them.

"You've walked right into my trap, you fools," he continued, as if he hadn't spoken.

"Why you…! You led us into this trap didn't you? !" Rita shouted at Zelos.

"Hey! How was **I** supposed to know this was here? ?" The red head shouted.

"As soon as we get out of here, I will blast your ass to hell! Do you understand? !"

"…We still have a bit of a situation," Lloyd nearly jumped when Presea calmly reminded them of their predicament.

The red clad male looked around, to try to find a way out of the cage – and mentally cursing when he noticed that the Rheairds are now gone – but settled his gaze onto the Renegade leader.

"This time Lloyd, you're mine," he said, then started to walk up to the cage.

The brunette clenched his teeth and gripped the hilts of his twin swords tightly. Where the hell is Yuri when you needed him-?

A bright light suddenly appeared to the left of them, and made Yuan stop his advance as they all turned to the source. After a moment, the light faded and…who the hell is this woman? She wore like a red suit of sorts with a yellow…thing floating around her (she was even levitating!) with a sort of skirt thing around her waist, long green hair and purple eyes. Yet, why is he getting a feeling that he had seen this woman before…?

She merely tilted her head at them then looked over at Yuan. "Hm? Lord Yuan, what brings you to this place?"

Lloyd jumped a little. Wait. Did-Did this woman call Yuan 'lord'?

Yuan seemed to growl at the woman. "I should ask you the same thing, Pronyma," he shot back, "The role of you Desians is to wreak havoc on the declining world."

"I'm merely here to retrieve Colette on Lord Yggdrasill's order," she merely replied, looking over at Colette. "Please turn her over to me."

The blue haired man merely glared over at the woman, then sighed. "Fine. But in exchange, I'll be taking custody of Lloyd."

She briefly glanced over at him then back at the man. "I have no orders in regards to him," she said, "do as you wish my Lord."

The woman turned to Colette- but paused. "By the way, my Lord…"

"What is it now?" He asked, sounding exasperated.

Lloyd could've sworn his heart stopped when she asked, "Have you seen a man by the name of 'Yuri'?"

A flicker of expression – he wasn't able to tell what it is – went by his face before it was gone, his expression-

Huh?

"I can't say I have," he answered with a leveled tone.

The woman merely hummed a little. "He's a man with long, dark purple hair with gray eyes. And he wears dark clothing."

What the crap? "What the hell do you want Yuri for?" The question left his mouth before he could stop it.

"Idiot!" Rita shouted as she smacked the back of his head (the boy letting out a yelp of pain).

The woman shifted her eyes over to him. And he saw her make a small smirk. "It doesn't concern you, but only that Lord Yggdrasill wanted him," she responded. "But I will locate him as soon as I return the Chosen to Lord Yggdrasill." She then floated over to the blonde female, who was standing unresponsively.

"…!" Lloyd tried to move over to get to her but was repelled by the cage. Dammit, dammit, dammit! He had to save Colette! But how? !

"Colette!" Genis cried, "Please! Don't go! !"

The woman paused just long enough to smirk over at them. "It is futile. Your words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul."

She moved closer to Colette, and all Lloyd could do was clench the swords tighter. Dammit all to hell! If only a miracle could happen-

"What is this?" The woman let out, "Why is there such a crude Key Crest upon the Cruxis Crystal? How pathetic, I shall remove this ugly thing at once."

She reached out her hand and they all tensed as her fingers inched toward the necklace-

"NO!" Colette suddenly shouted as she backed up a step; her eyes squeezed shut as her hands covered the necklace. "This is the present Lloyd made for me! I won't let you have it!"

Lloyd couldn't help but stare in shock (and he was pretty sure everyone else is too). Is…Is she…?

"Colette, are you back to normal? !" He exclaimed over to her.

She blinked her eyes – the beautiful crystal blue once more – opened and looked over at them. "Huh…? Why is everyone inside that…thing?" She asked, tilting her head a little.

"Impossible…" He heard Yuan let out, "There's no way a simple Key Crest could restrain the Cruxis Crystal!"

"Hey, nothing is really impossible," Rita said. "I've seen my fair share of those for a life time."

"How is this possible?" The green haired woman growled. "No matter. It shan't last long, now come with me!" She tried to reach out for Colette again.

The blonde quickly took a couple of steps back and pulled out her charkams. "Stay away from me-! Ah- Wah!" She cried out as she suddenly lost her footing and fell back-

They heard sparking of electricity, and the cage around them flickered for a few moments before it faded away. The moment it did, Rita – after looking over a the blonde in shock – immediately launched a couple of Fireballs over at the woman, who quickly moved out of the way to not get hit.

"What? !" The woman snarled, "How is it possible for a _human_ to use magic?"

"Like I said, nothing's impossible," the brunette retorted before she fired a Stone Blast at her.

Once he was sure that Rita could hold her off, Lloyd quickly ran over to the white clad blonde. "Colette, are you okay?" He asked, looking over her after he helped her up.

She smiled at him. "Yes! Lloyd, thank you so much for the present! I was so happy! I-I couldn't just-"

"I hate to break this lovely reunion," Zelos piped in (making the two look over at him), "But we've got bigger problems right now!" He jerked his head to the green haired woman. And she looked pissed.

"You little urchins!" She snarled, and a staff materialized in her hand. "You will pay for this!" The ball in the staff started to glow with a dark color-

Until a sword flew by and the woman gripped her arm as it seemed to have cut her. The sword lodged onto the ground and a familiar person landed next to it, pulling it from the ground and held his sword before him, glaring at the woman.

"You guys alright?" The dark clad male asked, not looking at them.

"Yuri!" Lloyd exclaimed – feeling relieved that the male was alright.

"Yuri…?" He heard Colette ask softly.

"The hell have you been? !" Rita demanded, "We could've used your help earlier!"

"Sorry, I was kinda preoccupied by something," was his answer. "Mind telling me who these guys are?" He added, gesturing his sword to the woman and-

Huh? Why was Yuan looking at Yuri in…shock?

"So, _you_ are Yuri," he returned his attention to the green haired woman, who narrowed her eyes at the dark haired man.

"You know of me?" He asked in a flat tone.

The woman merely scoffed and did a small smirk. "You may say that," she answered, "But it wouldn't have made a _difference_!" She launched a black lance-like energy at him.

"WOAH!" He jumped out of the way, and the energy impacted onto the ground where he was at.

Yuri landed on a rather large rock. "Hey! Go easy on me!" He exclaimed – and Lloyd couldn't help but hear a playful tone in his voice.

The woman hissed and prepared another spell-

"Angel Feathers!" Lloyd quickly moved out of the way, in time for discs of pink energy flying at her. The things around the woman moved up along with her arms and a shield of sorts appeared in front of the yellow things. Even though she blocked it, she was moved a couple of feet back.

"Nice Colette!" The red clad brunette praised as he drew his swords and charged at the woman-

He quickly blocked a strange weapon Yuan seemed to have out of nowhere (it looked like two large blades on each side of a black handle). "Sorry Lloyd, but I can't let you go that easily," he said, as the brunette tried all of his strength to push him off-

Yuri jumped in and tried to slash at Yuan, but the blue haired man flipped away (his cape flew off, revealing the rest of the red and dark blue armor (with yellow outlines) over a white shirt and white pants) landing a couple of feet away from the two. The dark haired man held up his sword. "You guys take care of the woman; I'll take care of this guy!"

"Wait, Yuri-!" Was all he could manage when Yuri charged at the blue haired man.

"He'll be fine!" He heard Rita exclaimed, "Let's just kick her ass already!"

Lloyd was uncertain if he should leave Yuri to fight against the Renegade leader – the dark haired male clashing swords with Yuan's weird weapon – but he reluctantly headed into battle with the green haired woman along with the others.

_**~o~**_

The moment he came to the summit of the mountain, the moment that Yuri clashed blades with this blue haired man, he knew there was something…strange with this man. He wasn't sure what it is, but…it's just strange to him.

This guy had that ice cream-y feeling as that blonde guy in white – Yggdrasill? At least he thought that was his name – and Colette has, he noted. But he shoved it to the back of his mind, focusing on fighting this guy off. But damn, this guy is fending him off like it was nothing!

As they got into a small stalemate – the dark haired man trying to push past the blue haired man – the blue haired guy in a weird ponytail spoke. "So…Your name is Yuri?"

"Yeah," he grunted before they separated, clashed blades again until Yuri was the one having to guard. "What's it to you?"

They broke off again and Yuri did a hand spring to move back from this blue haired man-

"WHOA!" He moved his head to the side to dodge a current of lightning that was fired at him from the blue haired man. Holy crap, this guy nearly killed him! Yuri narrowed his eyes; two can play at that!

"Azure Edge!" He fired the bolt of energy – a lot bigger than his usual ones – at the man, and he swiftly moved. But he didn't know about its Altered Arte, he thought with a mental smirk.

"Azure!" He fired a second bolt, and the man dodge again – and Yuri swung his sword and fired another bolt at the man (who did a take at that) and quickly held out his hand-

A green energy field of sorts appeared in front of him and the bolt of energy collided with it, making a small explosion. After the smoke cleared, the green energy field remained until it faded away.

Though, Yuri was somewhat busy staring dumbly at the spectacle. "…That's new," he murmured.

"Not bad," the blue haired man commended. His green eyes narrowed. "But it's going to take more than _that_ to take me down."

'_Yeeeaahh… I kinda figured that,'_ the ex-Imperial Knight thought, feeling a bit of sweat running down his temple. When he thought that, the blue haired man got into a stance and started to…chant(?) something in a strange –_ it's so familiar_ – language. And Yuri had a feeling that it's nothing but bad news.

Gotta stop him! He thought, and charged at the man. Before he could launch the spell!

He held his sword in both hands, and held it to his side and prepares to strike-

-_"Daddy!" He reached out his little hand towards (), who was looking out towards the sea. At the sound of his voice, the man –_ cobalt blue hair, swaying –_ turned to him-_

"…!" His eyes went wide, and he stopped-

But using the momentum, brought his sword downwards, the blade crashing onto the ground as the man swiftly dodged-

And formed a crater with the Azure Blast at where the man was, rocks flying-

-_strokes his head with affection _as the wind blew his hair _with_ _the sound of waves rolling _as the sun shined down on them _reflecting the blue hue of the water-_

He bit his tongue, grunting in pain as images plagued his mind – _what is real and what isn't? ?_ – and held his head, his other hand clutching his sword in a death grip. His eyes were squeezed shut and the sound of battle behind him was loud – _too loud! _– and his head hurt-!

"…I'm sorry, Yuri…" Huh? Was that the-?

He felt something – a strange…static-y feeling that made his skin tingle – and looked around in shock when he noticed strange, purple electricity humming around him. Oh fuck-

"Thunder Blade!"

Yuri let out a curse and tried to jump out of a way of the spell-

An enormous blade (colored purple) crashed down next to where he was – and the electricity ran through his body and he felt his muscle spasm (and it hurts so fucking bad…! He wasn't able to let out a scream) and he was blasted back by the shock wave of the attack. He crashed back onto a large boulder, and slumped to the ground, his body twitching as he could still feel the shock coursing through his body, his limbs rendered useless from the shock. There was this ringing sound in his ear, making him deaf for what seemed like a lifetime – and his eyes were squeezed shut, as he tried to regain some oxygen to get his lungs functioning correctly.

Damn…it hurts…it hurts so fucking bad… He can't move… But… _C'mon, dammit,_ his brain shouted at him, _move!_ _MOVE!_

Somehow…somehow, he managed to shake off the shock (even though he could still feel the…electricity in his system) and curled his fingers in, but not all the way into a fist. That annoying ringing in his ear is still present, even as he slowly tried to get up through monumental effort. Despite his muscles protesting, the dark haired man used the boulder he had crashed into to help him stand. It took all of his willpower to not fall back to his knees and he tried to force his eyes open, his sight a little blurry…but he could still see the blue haired man advancing on him slowly.

The ringing decreased a little, and he could (barely) hear the sounds of the other battle, occasionally hearing a 'Freeze Lancer' and 'Ice Tornado' and other attack names a few times. He was barely aware of his hand clutching tightly at his katana, nor was he aware of someone calling out to him; he wasn't sure who's shouting at him. Yuri gritted his teeth, and his body shook. He could hear the man speaking, but he wasn't able to understand the words.

All of a sudden, he felt a…shift, in the air. From what he had felt so far, the man is mostly likely going to cast a spell on him-

"-afraid that you have to disappear," he heard the man said.

Something in him snapped.

The man fired the spell at him-

And, again, Yuri could barely remember what happened. He did, however, remember that he had managed to jump at the last second – an energy ball of sorts made of electricity – and landed on another rock.

What happened after that…was, what he's able to describe, a blur.

There were points where he saw flashing steel- ribbons of blood- and smelt something burning- blood upon them- and heard steel singing- crackle of electricity-

And there was…an explosion- or rather, it _sounded_ like one; and it nearly made him deaf again – but he was able to hear someone screaming (he hopes it isn't one of the others) and surprised exclamations.

The blur moment disappeared after the explosion – huh, it's similar to what happened back at Zaude, after Alexei mocked the captain… Strange – and he found himself standing in a crater, in the same position he often uses after using Destruction Field. He quickly surveyed his surroundings – in his peripheral vision, he noticed that the others were looking over at him, most of them looking stunned by what they had just seen…and the green haired woman laid on the ground, a rather large piece of debris onto her side (when in the hell did _that_ happen?) – and noticed the blue haired man, with the green barrier having a rather large crack in front of him as he held his arm, where the dark haired man noticed that the piece of the white shirt had a rather large hole on it…as if it was burned off. Now that Yuri had a closer look at him…there are also a lot of cuts on his face, on parts of his arms, along with a large cut on the man's armor on his chest.

The hell…? He thought, feeling a bit puzzled, Did…Did he do that?

But, with the man as he is, it's probably a good time to finish him off. With the thought in mind, he clutched his sword in both hands and charged at the man once more. He mentally prayed that no other random vision would stop him; as he brought the sword in an overhand swing-

_CLANG!_

His ears rang again when his sword suddenly collided with another sword, and he let out a yelp as he was shoved off. He quickly landed on his feet and looked over the new comer.

It was a man (who seemed…seven years older than he is) with red, spikey hair with bits of it over his left eye, the remaining eye a russet color. His outfit looked…pretty odd; parts of it are white with patches of blue, dark blue around the pelvis, and dark colored, fingerless gloves…along with a bunch of belts on parts of his body, and two…tails hanging from the back, starting from the collar.

And Yuri couldn't help but be unnerved by the stare down this guy was giving him, a sword in hand.

Not only that but…where in the hell did _this_ guy come from?

"Kratos…" He heard Lloyd whisper, sounding shocked.

The dark haired man was only able to grit his teeth, staring down at the man himself. After a few moments of silence, the man turned away from him, instead looking over at the blue haired man behind him.

And the man looked annoyed (or maybe pissed, he wasn't sure). "Kratos, what are you doing here?" He asked immediately.

"Lord Yggdrasill has summoned you, Yuan," the man's reply (his voice not a very deep baritone like Duke's) made the dark haired man do a take and look over at the blue haired man. This is…'Yuan'?

But Yuan narrowed his eyes at the man. "You're not here to take the Chosen, are you?"

Yet the man shook his head. "There's been a slight change of plans. We'll leave her…for now."

Yuan narrowed his eyes at the new man, before his weapon phased out of existence. "Fine," he said, grabbing his cloak and placed it on as if nothing had happened.

The blue haired man walked over to the edge of the summit, then looked over his shoulder-

Yuri blinked. …Why is this guy looking at him like that…? That remorseful look-

Feathers were around the man's back and-

Yuri's eyes went wide.

Purple.

His…wings are…purple…

Purple…

_**~o~**_

"W-What the hell? !" Was all Rita could get out before that Yuan guy flew off. What the hell is going on? ! That blue haired guy has wings too!

She wasn't even given a moment to think, when Lloyd spat out, "Kratos."

The genius mage looked over at him…and she never thought that she'd see him look _that_ angry. Her eyes shifted to this weird guy, back to Lloyd and back at the new guy; did these two have a history with each other?

The man only grunted at the spat. "Lloyd. Why have you come to Tethe'alla?"

"We came here to save Colette," the red clad male replied defiantly. "Why else?"

"Yet, what good will saving the Chosen do?" The man asked, "The relationship of the two worlds vying for Mana has not changed in the slightest; their positions have merely been reversed with the World Regeneration Ritual."

"W-Wait," Sheena spoke up, and Rita detected a bit of anxiety in her voice, "Does that mean that Tethe'alla is in decline right now?"

The man shook his head. "No." He pointed at something, and Rita couldn't help but look-

'…_How long has that tower been there?'_ She thought, looking up at the _really_ tall tower in the distance. Does that thing go up into the _stars_? ! Seriously, how come she didn't notice? ?

"The Tower of Salvation can still be seen in this world, as well," she heard the man continue, "As long as it can be seen, it means that this world is still flourishing. However," she looked back at the man as he began to strode by them, passing by Yuri (who, for some reason, is standing stiff as a statue, staring out at where that Yuan guy was), and towards the downed green haired woman, "in the event that the Chosen becomes Martel's vessel, Tethe'alla will surely bid farewell to its era of prosperity."

She heard Lloyd growl under his breath. "Dammit, isn't there anything we can do? ?" He exclaimed, turning to the man fully, "Yggdrasill's the one that made this twisted world!"

"Lord Yggdrasill does not consider it twisted," the man replied, putting the woman over his shoulder, his voice emotionless. "If you want to do something about it, use your own head." He looked over at Lloyd, looking at him in the eye. "I thought you said you weren't going to make any more mistakes?"

Rita was about to open her mouth-

Until Lloyd shouted, "Fine! I'll do it! This stupid system of two worlds stealing Mana from each other has gone on far enough! I swear I'll change it; so Colette, Zelos, and other Chosens won't have to suffer, along with everyone else! So that there would be no more sacrifices!"

Rita couldn't help but look over at the red clad male, stunned. A quick glance told her that everyone else (except for Presea, that guy, and Yuri) were looking over at him stunned as well. She looked back at the red haired man-

To see him make a small smirk. "Alright then…do your best," he said-

ARGH! This guy has wings too! She mentally exclaimed when blue wings (parts of it looked a little like scythes) appeared from his back.

But just as he was about to leave, she heard Raine say:

"Kratos, one more thing."

He paused, and looked over his shoulder at the Professor, and she looked back at her as well. Her stern blue eyes were calculating for a moment, and she watched him carefully.

"What exactly does Cruxis want with Yuri?"

"Huh?" Most of the others let out as they looked over at the silver haired woman.

"Yuri?" The man repeated, and Rita turned back to the man to see him turning to face the group once more. His visible brow was raised a little at the question.

"Wait…you don't know about him?" Gene asked.

The man still looked over them funny before his gaze shifted over to Yuri-

She saw his eyes do a small take at the dark clad man before it was gone in an instant. He looked back over at them.

"I would not have asked if I knew what you were talking about," he said, coolly.

"Yeah," Zelos piped up, "That Pronyma woman said that her boss wanted him for something. She didn't say what though."

The man narrowed his eye. "I see…" He stared back at them over his shoulder as he turned, and gave one last look at Yuri. Then he straightened his head and flew off in the same general direction as that Yuan guy.

"HEY-! !" Lloyd let out prematurely, but the man was already gone, along with that woman.

They all just stood there in silence. "…What was _that_ about?" Sheena asked.

Rita turned to them. "Alright, you guys have got some explaining to do," she said, glaring at them, "Those two guys that flew off are like that guy that attacked Yuri back on our world! Explain. NOW!"

"Woah, wait," Zelos said, "'Your world'? What are you-?"

"Holy crap! I remember now!" Gene exclaimed suddenly, and they turned to him, startled. "We saw that green haired lady on the projector in the Asgard Ranch!"

Ranch? What-?

"Wait…so that must mean she's a Desian," Sheena said.

"And since Kratos interfered and all…" Gene said, "It really looks like Cruxis and the Desians are really the same organization, after all…" He trailed off.

"And it seems that Yuan is connected as well," Raine muttered.

"Oh, great," Lloyd hung his head a bit, "Then…that means that they're all our enemies…"

"It would seem so," the silver haired woman sighed, "We must be careful around the Renegades from now on."

"Wow," Rita said, "And here I thought _Yuri _was cursed." Speaking of which…

"Hey Yuri!" She called out to the dark clad man. When he didn't flinch, she stalked over to him and roughly shook him. "YURI! !"

"… Huh? Wha?" He let out, and looked down at her, startled.

"What the hell was that about?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

He blinked. "Huh?" He looked around for a bit, then back at her. "Oh, uh, sorry; I kinda zoned out back there." He scratched the back of his head as he apologized.

"How the hell could you have zoned out back there? ?" She demanded, though, on the inside she was somewhat concerned. The female mage had never seen him like that before; as she was shaking him, his face looked…blank. "If it were any other situation, you would've been _dead_!"

Yuri was about to open his mouth-

"Um," they both blinked and looked over at the (now) responsive blonde, who was looking over them, curiously. She walked over to them, and looked over them for a few moments before she looked over to Yuri. "You're…Yuri, right?"

"Uh…yeah," he nodded slowly.

At the reply, she just smiled. "Pleased to meet you!" She said, taking hold of his hands and shook them, "My name is Colette, but I'm sure you already know, right?" She released Yuri's hands and turned to Rita. "And you're Rita, right?" The female brunette was a bit startled for words – she's like Estelle (if Estelle was always smiling at almost everyone) in a way – and just nodded. The blonde just giggled and took her hands too. "I hope we can become friends too, Rita!" She said, shaking her hands.

"Uh… Sure," she said slowly, still a bit bewildered. How in the hell could this girl be so _friendly…_?

She just beamed and walked back to the others-

"Oh!" She let out as she just suddenly tripped. "Oops…" She muttered as she slowly stood up and dusted her white clothes off.

Rita and Yuri shared a look, and back over at the blonde…who just beamed back at them. "I'm okay," she assured them before she headed back to the others.

As they all talked to the female blonde, she heard Yuri grunt. "Man…it's like her smile is barfing rainbows into my eyes…" He muttered, trying to cover his eyes with his arm to emphasize his point.

She just absently nodded. "Yeah…" She muttered, and looked up at the sky. The genius mage couldn't help but feel worried about Estelle – her very first _human _friend; before she met Yuri and the others, she believed that, all she could trust are Blastia, and that humans would only abuse power when they get their hands on them. But after meeting Estelle, she knew better.

Rita frowned in worry. _'I hope you're okay wherever you are Estelle…'_

_**~o~**_

The wind roared in his ears as he flew towards the tower. He kept a firm grip onto the leader of the Desian Grand Cardinals.

Had he been a human, he would've squinted his eyes against the wind blowing harshly at his face, or feeling the cold from such acceleration and through the clouds. But he had lost the ability to feel like a human 4000 years ago, the moment he had agreed to become one of the Four Seraphim of Cruxis in an attempt to revive Martel.

Yet, that one time where he had _felt_ human was years ago…and he had lost that feeling again after _that_ incident 15 years ago…

Kratos never knew that, on the day the Chosen of Sylvarant was to go on her journey - in which that he had to lead _another_ sacrificial lamb to her death - that he would see that Lloyd…_his_ Lloyd…was still alive. At first, he couldn't quite believe it; but after he saw Anna's grave next to the house Lloyd had stayed in, and confirmed that it was, indeed, her's…he couldn't help but feel elated that his son had been alive, all this time! But it was turned to horror, when he realized something: Lloyd was still alive. And…he was wearing the Exsphere that the Desians had pursued them for a few years for. If Yggdrasill found out about his existence and of their connection…he didn't want to think about what might happen to his son.

He felt a bit relieved that the Chosen had lied to Lloyd about leaving at noon, choosing to leave early – he understood the reason; she didn't want Lloyd to know the horrible truth about the Journey of World Regeneration.

The seraph was honestly shocked when Genis came to them, upon Noishe, no less, and told them that Lloyd had been captured by Desians. Only that it wasn't _really_ the Desians, but it was the Renegades, after seeing Botta about to attack Lloyd. And after the first seal, he found himself tutoring Lloyd in the way of the sword, since the boy felt guilty about what had happened at Iselia – especially about what he did. And he couldn't blame the boy; killing Anna was like he was killing himself…

He didn't want to get close to his son – all he would do is hurt him, since he is a part of the organization that is making his childhood friend, and everyone else suffer – and yet, the boy had managed to do so. And so…

He had to do what he had to do, at the Tower of Salvation back in Sylvarant. The ancient warrior had to make his son hate him – by becoming his enemy, Lloyd might have a chance of staying alive.

However…

Kratos narrowed his russet eyes, thinking back at the dark clad man he had saw, and deflected the attack from. Lloyd and his companions called him 'Yuri'…and the girl clad in red…

Those two felt…odd; but that man Yuri, however, is far stranger. His Mana signature…it's like that of an angel's. But how could that be? Kratos didn't see a Cruxis Crystal on his person, nor could he sense it. Yet, that didn't explain the state he found Yuan in when he arrived at the scene. Lloyd didn't have that kind of power to take down Yuan – yet it was Yuri who was about to take down the blue haired half-elf.

And why couldn't Kratos shake the feeling that Yuri looks…familiar? He knew he hadn't seen the man before.

And why does Yggdrasill want the man in the first place? Is it because he's an angel…?

To the red head's frustration, he knew that he didn't have the answers. Not only that, something doesn't seem right.

The ancient swordsman shoved it to the back of his mind, seeing the tower coming closer. He can sort through this later. For now though, he had to gather certain items to help his son.

He only hopes that Yggdrasill doesn't find out about what he's doing.

* * *

**Uh…I have no idea what to put on here. Seriously, I don't.**

***crickets chirp***

**Huh, I'm alone… Eh, whatever.**

**I'm pretty sure that a lot of you have questions; however, I'm afraid I won't answer. Because it would ruin the plot that I have been developing in this story! And that wouldn't be fun, now, would it?**

**Anyways, did I get Yuan's character right? And Kratos'? **

**I shifted over to four P.O.V.s instead of the usual three…neat.**

**Please review my lovely fans! As for the flames… *holds up the Mirror Shield from Zelda: Ocarina of Time* gimme your best shot! I'll just deflect 'em back!**


	13. Chapter 12

*listening to 'Sanctuary' by Hikaru Utada* There's a new la~and! *notices the reader* Oh! Uh, welcome to the new chapter! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

'…_How in the hell did I managed to get myself into this?'_ Yuri thought, grimacing as he was going through – what he thought – was the most challenging thing ever.

School work.

But, at least he isn't going to suffer through this alone.

"Aww…! I can't understand this at all!" He looked over at Lloyd to see the boy vigorously rub his head.

"Oh, c'mon Lloyd," Gene said, "It's not _that_ bad."

"That easy for _you_ to say!" The brunette exclaimed, glaring over at the silver haired boy sitting a bit away from them. "You and the Professor are smart!"

"It'll be okay Lloyd," he heard Colette (it's still weird to hear her voice after being around her for nearly two weeks…) comfort the boy, "I'm sure you'll get it if you tried your hardest!"

All the boy could do is moan miserably, burying his face into his hands. Not that he could blame the red clad boy. Because, seriously, math? Sure, he is pretty decent at it…but it's been a _while_ since he had done any of this; that and…he had never taken a couple of these math problems before. Some of which he had never heard of; nor did he see on Terca Lumireis. Yeah, Flynn _did_ warn him that he'd regret not paying attention during those classes he had to attend (mainly because Hanks and Flynn's old man forced him to take them) at a school that's close to where he and Flynn lived; and, honestly, he hadn't taken the threat seriously. Because, really, what could possibly happen if he didn't study – since there are better things to do than study (at least, he thought at a time); a scenario like this had never crossed his mind. It sure is biting him on the ass now.

Not only that, but he was forced to read the language here in both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, learn the history of the former (and a bit of Tethe'alla from Rita – who claimed to have taken a few things from Aster as a reference in the future), biology, and – of all things – chemistry.

He was still in shock that Raine had somehow managed to get him into this – where Flynn and even Estelle had failed to do! Somehow…Somehow that woman goaded him into this! Ugh, he'd have to watch out for her from now on…especially for that deadly smack from the said half-elf (which, he had to admit, is far more painful than a Fireball to the face).

The dark haired male just hopes that Flynn doesn't catch wind of this; it's bad enough that Rita was secretly snickering at him behind his back – not that he had caught her or anything. He could _feel_ her laughing at him behind his back.

Yuri just shoved it out of his mind to focus on the math problems before him. This is a pain in the ass already…

Because, really? 'Complex numbers'?

"Look Lloyd," he heard Rita – of all people – spoke up as he looked over a particular problem, "This is merely a standard form of a complex number. 'a' is the real part, bi is the imaginary part. Together they make a complex number. For example," he looked over to see Rita scribbling something on a piece of paper she pulled out, "2 + 3i is an imaginary number. 2 is real. 3i is imaginary, as the _i_ would indicate."

"But what's the point of imaginary numbers?" Lloyd asked, looking frustrated. "Why not do things with, I dunno, real numbers?"

Rita sighed. "That's because some equations require use of the imaginary numbers. For example, you can't have √-1 normally. The notation _i _stands for the negative square root, or put simply, √-1."

"Wow," Gene let out, sounding impressed, "That actually sounds complicated."

"Yeah, it was at first," the female mage nodded, "But after I got it down, it was no sweat."

"Nerd," Zelos piped up.

"Would you rather have me fry your ass?" The female held up her hand to conjure a fireball, looking over at the red haired Chosen with a bored look.

The dark haired male rolled his eyes, ignoring the yelp from the red haired Chosen as he turned his attention towards his paper. "He's not worth it, Rita," Yuri told her as he did some exercises in writing complex numbers in standard form.

He heard Rita making a scowl before he felt the fire Mana (he still couldn't get used to it) fizzle out.

"Whew," he heard Zelos sigh in relief, "For a moment I thought I was going to get my ass fried! How will the hunnies love me now-? OW!"

"Idiot Chosen!" Sheena shouted, since she was the one who slapped the man (and he wanted to applaud her for it).

"I'm curious, though," Raine piped up as he looked over the answer he wrote (it didn't…look right for some reason), "What is the highest level of education in Terca Lumireis?"

"Well, basically, if you have the capability of being intelligent, the empire would enlist you to research Blastia," the female mage replied as he took the paper in his hands and held it horizontally, diagonally, and the other way, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Basically, it doesn't matter what age you are; if you show how intelligent you are, they'll take you in no doubt."

"Wow," Colette let out in surprise, "How old are you when you were enlisted?"

"I became a researcher five years ago," she replied, "I'm 15 now."

"W-Wait! You were only _ten_ when you were taken? ?" Lloyd let out, sounding shocked.

"Eh," Rita let out uncaringly, "Don't worry about it."

"Fascinating…" Raine let out. "Could you tell me more about the history of your world, Rita?"

The female mage let out a small hum at it. Yuri mentally groaned – he didn't want to hear a history lesson about their world, right now. "Hey Rita, can I ask you something?" He let out as he held out the paper to the genius female mage (and effectively changing the subject). "Is there something wrong with this answer?" He pointed at the answer with his pencil.

The female brunette took the paper and looked over it. "Huh, I'm surprised that you noticed it," she let out, her eyes widening a little in surprise. She placed the paper back down and instructed the dark haired male on the correct answer. He just nodded and scribbled down the answer.

"There, all done" he said, and handed the paper back to her. "How'd I do?"

"Hmm…" She let out as she looked over at the answer. "You've got the sixth and ninth ones wrong, but they're just mistakes that are easy to make." She nodded. "Not bad at all – I figured that you'd probably find Algebra II pretty difficult."

He just shrugged. "Once you've explained it, it's pretty easy to figure out." That, and he had always been a fast learner – and, like his strength before obtaining his Bodhi Blastia, he didn't question it. Anything that might help him survive is alright with him. He never imagined that he might learn something like math so…easily. A part of him felt a little disturbed by this fact…

"I suppose."

"Indeed," Raine snagged the paper from Rita and – once more, Yuri couldn't help but cringe at the look she was making – looked over the paper. She seemed to be…pleased as she does so. "In a span of a few days, you've managed to learn almost everything!"

'_That's only because you've goaded my pride into doing this,'_ Yuri mentally grumbled, rolling his eyes as he placed his chin into his hand. Yeah, that had always been his problem since growing up; he always wanted to prove to other people that even an orphaned commoner could do anything better than anyone else higher than him. The time where he wanted to prove to the woman who taught him and Flynn how to write that a left-handed kid could write just as neat, if not neater, than a right-handed kid, is a prime example. Damn himself for hating to lose…

"Now, since you've got _that_ down," he was started to see another book placed in front of him, and his eyes widened at the title. "You can start on _this_!"

This time, Yuri was the one who moaned miserably as he buried his face into his hands. He _hated_ chemistry…

A couple of days after that, Yuri thought he'd never be _this_ happy to see the city of Meltokio off in the distance when they were on the top of a hill. And, apparently, so was the whiney red haired Chosen.

"Uuugh…Finally!" He spoke up, "I was getting sick of all that walking."

"We know," Sheena and Rita remarked dryly.

Though, despite the sudden feeling of happiness (of getting away from the Professor before she could force _more_ homework on him), the dark haired male remembered that the Pope had branded all of them (and perhaps Rita and Sheena) fugitives. So, getting into the capital city isn't going to be cakewalk – or wondering around in there for that matter. Even if Zelos assured them that not everyone in the capital is with the Pope.

"So how are we going to get in, Zelos?" Colette pretty much took the words right out of his mouth.

"Oh, don't you worry about that, my little angel," the red head said, "I've got the perfect idea."

"Oh, do tell," the dark haired male spoke up, the sarcasm dripping from his voice as he looked over at the red head, "Please, tell us more, oh great Chosen."

"Yes," the Professor piped up, "I'm curious as to what this plan of yours entails."

Zelos just waved one hand casually. "There are plenty of secret entrances into Meltokio, Professor. Stop worrying so much!"

"It's when you say that is where **I **worry the most," Yuri said as they started their way over to the city.

"Awww! Don't be like that!" The red head somewhat whined, but the dark haired swordsman pretty much ignored him.

He pretty much tuned everything out, returning to his thoughts – which…didn't seem like him a couple of times, but with everything that had happened to him lately, even _he_ couldn't help but do that – on the past couple of days, after saving Raine and Gene from those raciest bastards. Because, really, what the hell? There weren't any racial problems back on their worlds (well, on as far as he knew; he didn't bother to question Judy about it, since…it might be personal or something, he didn't know), and the Krityans are accepted everywhere, because, well…they were around longer than humans have been.

And what made him mad, was the fact that the other people in the building didn't do a damn thing about it! They were just standing around, letting that shit happen! He _really_ wanted to punch each and every one of them in the face…but, he was just one person – what in the hell could he do change their opinion on half-elves? No way could a human do something like that-

…_Is he really human?_

That single thought drifted into his mind before he could even stop it. And was reminded of the rather…painful experience he felt back at the Fooji Mountains, sometime before he stepped in to stop that green haired woman (who the group that had seen her told him that the woman is named Pronyma) from doing any harm against the others.

He didn't know what the hell had happened back there, in all honesty. As he was checking to see if they were being followed, he had a feeling that Zelos may have deliberately sent him alone _on purpose_. Why, the dark haired male wasn't sure – yet something told him that the red haired male had reason for doing so. But…as he was trying to make his way back to them – he had a feeling that they had gone ahead without him, which was fine – that a…he wasn't able to describe it well, but, there is one thing he _could_ describe.

A _very_ sharp pain coming from his back – more specially, his shoulders – then it started to spread to the rest of his body, forcing him to fall to his knees. It felt that the painful sensation would kill him (not that he was sure that it could) something…he wasn't sure what it is, but he thought that it might've been instinct or something, but something told him to make his body relax itself, to prepare. He found out what that something is, when something told him to unfurl his wings – and damn, they hurt as much as the _first_ time they came out; forcing him to let out a scream when they slid out of his back.

While it felt good that it was like he was stretching his sore muscles instead of wings…but he didn't think that muscles wound make his own skin _rip_, and felt something – a liquid – running down his back. He quickly identified the liquid as blood – _his_ blood.

He stayed still for a few moments, trying calm himself with deep breathes as he heard his wings flapping idly behind him. The dark haired man dared to look behind him, to look at the wings.

…And was it just him, or…did they look a little…solid to him? Weren't they translucent before? At least, he thinks so, because he hadn't pulled them out after he ran into Lloyd and the others. He had his own brand of secrets, and he's pretty sure they all had their own secrets too. But it was after they explained that Cruxis – an organization of 'angels' – is their enemy that he became _really_ reluctant to reveal his wings. They probably might think he's a part of Cruxis too – he already knew that Raine doesn't fully trust him, even after the whole fiasco at Sybak and at the bridge. Not that he could blame her or anything.

But, as much as he wanted to stretch them out, he had to get back to the others – though, he wasn't sure how to get back to them quickly on foot. The solution? Wings.

Though he had to take care not to get _too_ near them in flight – he didn't want to surprise them, pulling them back in as he continued his way on foot. It was when he reached the summit that things…kinda went downhill from there; as in the fight with that Pronyma woman and that Yuan guy.

Yet…after all this time, why couldn't he get that man out of his thoughts? He…didn't know why, but something _screams_ that he knows him. But how? As far as Yuri knew, he had never seen that man before. …Had he?

Something told him he did-

"Woah, Yuri!" He felt something snag the back of his vest, snapping him back to reality. As he blinked, his mind registered the source of the voice to be Zelos, just as he added, "Careful buddy. You nearly got yourself caught by the guards."

The dark haired male blinked and looked in front of him.

…Okay, maybe it's a good thing that they were hiding in the bushes and trees near the entrance to Meltokio – otherwise, they would've been caught by the guards stationed at the gates. For once, he was thankful that the red haired Chosen had gotten to him.

But he's not going to tell _him_ that.

"By the way, what were you doin' spacing out like that?"

…Nor could he tell the red head – and the others to an extent – about what was _really_ going on in his mind. So he put on his usual façade, saying, "What, you think it's odd seeing me think like that?"

"Well, usually," Rita responded, "You mostly do that when you've got a lot on your mind."

"Well, yeah," he said, "But a lot of people do that when they have a lot on _their_ mind."

"He has a point," his grey eyes shifted over to the red haired man who spoke up. "Even **I** have a lot on my mind from time to time."

'_Why is he defending me?'_ The dark haired man couldn't help but thought, raising a dark purple brow a little. _'I never gave him a reason to be nice to me…'_

The guy can be just as weird as Estelle (sometimes) – he'll never understand nobles.

"So what is it that you think of Zelos?" He heard Lloyd ask.

The dark haired man had a feeling that the red haired Chosen would say something perverted, the way the man smirked – so he quickly changes the subject. "You said that there's a 'secret' entrance to the city, right? So, where is it?"

"Yeah, you better do it fast before the guards see us," Sheena added.

"Right, right," the red haired man took a left turn casually through the growth, "This way my hunnies and buds!"

"…Should we follow him?" Gene let out after a moment.

"Maybe," Yuri just shrugged, "Let's just hope that we don't find ourselves in _another_ trap, per say."

"OH! Yuri, your words hurt!" The red head called back at him.

The dark haired man just rolled his eyes as they just followed him, letting the others get ahead of them so that he could trail behind, his hands behind his head. Yuri let his eyes gaze down onto the path they were taking. _'This path actually looked worn,'_ he mentally noted, raising his dark brow a little, _'I'm getting a feeling Zelos isn't the only one who used this path…whatever this path leads that is.'_

"Um…" The dark haired male blinked and shifted his eyes – to not let anyone know of his super hearing – to the source…

…Seeing Colette, twiddling her fingers a little. He blinked again. When did she get by his side, and… what is she nervous about?

He quickly moved his eyes away, in time for her to say: "Yuri, is it okay if I asked you a question?"

The dark haired male looked over at her weirdly. "Uh…sure, go ahead," he said, shrugging a little.

He watched the young blonde as she hesitated a little…as if, she wasn't sure if the question she'll ask isn't right or something. The twenty-one year old sighed. "If it's too complicated, then don't ask," he told her, "I won't force you to say anything if you don't want to, alright? So…don't sweat about it, okay?"

She tilted her head a little at what he said. "But…I'm not sweating at all," she said, sounding confused.

Yuri almost groaned. She's as about as naïve as Estelle when it comes to these things (understandable on both parts – Estelle is a Child of the Full Moon and Colette is the Chosen of Sylvarant; both of them had sheltered lives due to their status)…

"Never mind," he said, sighing, "Don't think too hard about it."

She still looked confused though. Again, he sighed, shaking his head as he started to walk ahead of her-

"Oh yeah! I noticed that you have pretty thin cuts on the back of your shirt."

Yuri could've sworn his blood froze when she said that. His face went back to its usual façade as he turned to look at her again, looking at her questionably. "What do you mean?"

"Oh! I-I'm sorry," the blonde let out, covering her mouth, "I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Colette scratched her cheek a little. "Well…I'm sure that all angels have it, since I'm also an angel now… I think all angels have – what was it called again?" She sort of trailed off for a moment, trying to think of a word. "Oh! Yeah!" She snapped her fingers as she remembered, "Enhanced senses!"

Yuri blinked. "Enhanced…"

"Yup," she nodded with a smile – she also had her eyes closed so she didn't notice a particular look Yuri was making. "As I continued along with the journey of World Regeneration, after unlocking the seals, I can see things _really_ far away – sometimes even the smallest detail. And I can hear even the tiniest of sounds…but, sometimes, it hurts. It's not so bad when you get used to it."

Well, that explains a few things, he thought, thinking back to a couple of his…newfound experiences. But…how could he make an excuse to save his own neck?

"So…how did you get those cuts on the back of your shirt?" She asked, looking concerned, "Did you run into a monster?"

The blonde just unintentionally gave him an idea. "Yeah," he nodded, then huffed. "No matter where you are, monsters are always sneaky bastards…" He added softly, knowing full well that Colette could hear him.

"I'm sorry…"

He sighed, this time exasperated. "Don't apologize," he told her, "It's not your fault that a monster snuck up on me. So don't worry, I'll be fine," he smiled at her – at least that part is true, with him being fine.

Although Colette didn't look convinced, she nodded all the same. "Okay, if you say so."

Yuri allowed the blonde to go ahead of him – the girl humming a small tune to herself with a smile – and made sure she was ahead before slipped his belt off, and took his vest off, turning it around-

"…!" He let out, his eyes widening. Holy crap, there really _are_ cuts on the back of his vest…but they're so thin…slit-like, from where the wings came out of. How come he didn't _notice_? He looked back over at Colette, seeing her just skipping over to the others, and back at the shirt…and gritted his teeth. _'This is NOT cool…'_ He thought bitterly.

How in the hell is he going to explain this to the others…?

_**~o~**_

In all honesty, why in the name of Origin did the 'secret' entrance have to the sewers? The female ninja thought, looking up at the large metal grate embedded in the city wall, a large gap between the right edge of the grate and the wall surrounding it.

"A-Are you kidding me? !" Rita shared the same thoughts as her as they all looked up at it, "The sewers? ! ?"

"Underground sewer to be precise," Zelos corrected, "Waste water from the city flows out from here. No one would even _think_ to look for us in here; nor would they think that we'll be using this place to get in."

"Huh," Lloyd let out, "This is actually a good idea when you've explained it."

"You've got to be kidding me…" She heard the red clad female grumble to herself – not that she could blame her. The ninja looked over at the male Chosen with a deadpan look.

"And why – pray tell – would you know about an entrance like this?"

"Well, my dear Sheena," he said, grinning – a grin she had (sadly) became familiar with, "you know how Meltokio's gate closes after dusk and all. This has always been my little insurance against being locked out at night."

'_Figures…'_ The purple clad woman thought, rolling her eyes.

"Zelos, why don't you go home until night?" Colette asked.

"Well, my cute little angel, when we get to my place I can just show you and-"

Sheena quickly smacked him, ignoring his yelp of pain, effectively cutting him off. "Idiot Chosen…" She growled under her breath as the man twitched a little on the ground.

"Uh…" She quickly turned her head, seeing Yuri staring at them with a dumbfounded look. "Did I miss something?"

"No, not really," Raine spoke up, sighing in exasperation – again, Sheena couldn't blame her.

The dark haired male just looked over at Zelos – who she heard was being kicked by Rita, the red clad girl shouting 'You idiotic pervert!' and 'Lemme rearrange your face with my foot!' amidst his yelps of pain. Sheena immediately decided that she liked this girl, even though they've been traveling for a few days – and said, "Well, I guess this is one of those moments where I _don't_ want to know."

He then looked over at the grate with a raised brow. "Is this…?"

"Yup," the female ninja nodded, "The sewers."

Yuri just smiled a little. "Brings back some memories…" He muttered.

Sheena blinked at that, wondering what the man meant. But before she could open her mouth to ask-

"Enemy presence detected," Presea spoke up (and despite being a ninja, Sheena nearly jumped at her voice), "There is danger."

"Really…?" Lloyd let out and they – Rita had stopped beating up on Zelos a couple of minutes ago – looked back up at the entrance. "What kind of danger exactly?"

"May have been monsters," Yuri guessed, "Or…maybe there's someone in there expecting us."

"What? ?" Zelos let out, "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Calm down," Yuri told him, "We won't know what it is exactly. And besides, this is the only way we could go to get in."

Sheena nodded. "Yeah, we have to return to Sybak so you guys could fulfill Kate's promise, right?"

"Let's just hope that the people in here would be friendly," the dark clad male said, giving her a small smirk before he just walked on in.

Rita groaned. "Fine. Let's just get this over with…" she muttered before she followed him in as well.

Sheena shared a look with the others – Zelos sluggishly pushing himself up with a tired look – and Lloyd just shrugged before they all followed the two.

They were surrounded by darkness for a moment, but after a few seconds of walking, electric lights started appearing on the walls. Sure they were dim, but it was better than traveling in complete darkness. Fortunately, there were walkways on either side of the running water.

…But as they go further in, the smell began to get worse. Sheena held her nose, making an expression of disgust and looking at some of the others, they were doing the same.

"You used to come through this place every night?" Genis asked with disbelief.

"Shut it Brat!" Zelos exclaimed (despite looking about as uncomfortable as the rest of the group), "It's not that bad! And besides, the door's right up ahead; we'll be out of here in like, five seconds."

"For our sake, I hope so," Sheena said. God, it smells so bad in here…

A few minutes later, they came out into a more open area and went up a set of stairs…seeing Yuri and Rita looking at something. As if at the sounds of their footsteps, they turned to them. "Yo," Yuri simply said, opening his palm to greet them.

"Huh? Yuri, what are you and Rita doing?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news," Yuri said, his voice a bit nasally since he pinched his nose, "Good news we found the door," he jerked his thumb behind him to indicate it behind him. "Bad news though…it looked locked."

"What?" Zelos let out before – after Yuri stepped out of the way – he walked by the dark haired male to look at the door. "What the crap!" He let out, "It was never closed when I came through here before!"

"Hm…it seems that Yuri guessed right at someone expecting us to go through here," the ninja heard Raine murmured – she could hear the frown in her voice, too.

"Well, that sucks," Yuri said, "Sometimes, I hated it when I guessed right."

"…I just think that you _are_ cursed," Rita (her voice also nasally) put in her two cents.

"Might be that, too."

Lloyd sighed. "I guess we'll have to take a look around," he said, scowling a little, "Maybe we'll find another route…or at least a way to open this door."

"Don't worry," Colette piped up, "I'm sure we'll find something!"

"Let's hope so…"

The group headed up a metal stairway on to a new platform and looked around. There were pipes all over the place, emptying dirty water into the main channel, but they ignored them to find something to open the door.

Contrary to what they believed, they didn't run into any monsters as they explored. Sure, there are some pretty enormous rats, but they weren't really vicious. They usually ran away when they approached, and if they tried to bite, they were easy enough to kill with a simple stab (or slice or smash depending on who it is). Though, Sheena heard some snippets from Yuri, him muttering about 'Ratwiggles' and 'Zaphias'.

It wasn't long until the hallway they had walked through led into another spacious chamber…and it smelled just as bad as the chamber before. Rita gagged and covered her nose and mouth, trying to save herself from the stench (and from throwing up). Genis and herself nearly retched themselves, too.

"Ugh…" Yuri grunted, doing the same thing as Rita, "This place smells how Flynn's cooking tastes!"

Zelos nearly fell over from the stench. "God, I can't take any more of this!"

"Hey, what's that?" Genis pointed over at something, and when they looked, there is a raised walkway against the opposite wall, near the edge of the platform. Said walkway led to another small platform, and on the wall was a small lever.

"You think that might be it?" Lloyd asked, covering his mouth and nose like some of the others.

"I guess so," the purple clad female said, getting a little dizzy.

"How are we gonna reach it though?" The brunette male asked, "I don't see another way to get to it!"

A moment went by before someone snapped their fingers – making them turn to the source, seeing Yuri. "Colette," he said, "Do you think you could fly over there to get to the lever?"

"Oh! Yes!" The girl smiled, "I'll go!" She pulled out her pinkish-fuchsia wings and flew over to the platform. "Be back in a jiffy!"

As she flew, Yuri couldn't help but say, "Man, it would be crazy if some monster from under the water reached out for her, grabbing her with their tentacles or something."

'…_Did he just make an innuendo?'_ Sheena thought as she looked over at the dark haired male, looking horrified (as she ignored whoever yelped on panic)-

Yuri was scratching the side of his head as he watched the blonde Chosen. The kunoichi blinked, taking note of the look of concern he had on his face. He…he seemed innocent when he said that…

A loud sound returned her attention to Colette, who landed safely on the other platform and had pushed down the lever.

A few seconds later, there was a loud grinding noise echoing from somewhere. Colette flew back over to the others and dismissed her wings. "There, I think that should do it!" She said, smiling at them.

"I guess there are some perks of having an angel with us," Yuri mused, smiling a little.

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, "Let's go see if that door is open now."

It seemed everyone silently agreed and began to head back to where they had seen the door. During the trek, Genis spoke up:

"You know, this almost seems too easy. Weren't there supposed to be monsters?"

"Yeah, I don't see anything else besides those rats," Lloyd agreed with what the half-elf said.

"Eh, it's probably just another average day in the sewers. Nothing unusual here," Zelos said.

"I don't know… My 'something that's going to crap on my day' senses are tingling," the dark haired spoke up.

"…The hell kind of senses is that?" Rita let out, sounding incredulous.

"A lot of crap happened to me in my life," he explained (and the kunoichi could feel him shrugging a little) "So, I could kind of feel that when something bad is going to happen, I kinda get a chill of sorts going up my spine."

"Is that the reason why Rita kept saying that you were 'cursed'?" Genis asked.

"Pretty much." …It's kinda weird to hear someone say that so…casually. The kunoichi figured that she would probably never figure out this man.

"Hey, isn't that the door?" Colette called out, and they all looked to see the door that was previously closed. This time, it was open.

"Sweetness!" Zelos exclaimed, "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed!"

"I just want to get the hell out of here," Rita said, "The stench is making me dizzy…"

"Don't worry!" Colette said to her, optimistically, "I'm sure we'll be out of here in no time!"

"Less talking, more walking," Yuri said as he walked through the door.

Wanting to get out of here, the group silently followed the dark haired male, entering into another chamber. Yuri walked into the same pace as the others as they crossed a small bridge that led over the water. Ahead of them was a set of stone stairs that led up a floor above them, where a ladder that leads out of the sewers is at.

"Alright! It's nothing but smooth sailing from here on-"

Sheena's eyes went wide and she held up her arm to stop everyone (and cutting off Lloyd). "Wait!"

"Huh? What is it Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

She didn't say anything – but then again, she didn't have to. The shadowy figures she had saw slowly went toward them. She was able to make out just about eight of them despite the dim light.

"Well, looks like we've got company," Yuri remarked as one of them moved further into the light.

The man didn't look pleasant – short, matted hair, an ugly face…and despite missing a few teeth, even the kunoichi couldn't help but be unnerved by the smirk he's making. And from the dirty, torn prisoner's garb along with a pair of shackles around his wrists…this man seemed to be a convict. And he had a rather large wooden club with nails driven into it as a weapon.

"We've been waiting for you, travelers from Sylvarant," the man said in a rather…creepy voice.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Lloyd questioned as some more convicts crept forward. Each of them had a weapon of their own, ranging from an axe, daggers, crossbow, and a bow and arrow.

"It's nothin' personal," the one with the axe chuckled. "Th' Pope promised to lighten our sentences if we took care of you."

"Seems like the Pope is desperate enough to call these guys in since his knights couldn't kill us," Rita said warily.

"Don't worry about it, sweet-cheeks," Zelos said, "There's eight of them and nine of us. I figured we could take 'em."

"…Not exactly," Yuri spoke up, before he stepped forward, prompting Sheena to look at him as he stopped next to her. The man seemed to be looking up at…something. "Hey, I know you're up there. Why don't you show yourself?"

What? "Yuri, what are you-?"

"Impressive."

A new voice cut her off and a new figure dropped in from the floor above them. The figure straightened up and turned to them. The figure is a man, just like the other convicts…but he seemed more presentable looking than the others (but he looked like he had definitely seen better days). His hair is long, messy and colored blue (much like his eyes), his bangs hanging in his eyes a bit, giving him a dark and brooding look. His solemn face had strong and noble features (which seemed kinda odd to him); he wore a white top of sorts with strings on the sides that only covered his top (his pecks and half of his bicep), dark green baggy pants (held up by a brown belt) and a pair of boots with an armor of sorts on the shins. The man, although quite muscular, had his wrists close together, bond by a pair of shackles (not like the other convicts the kunoichi had noticed).

And something told her that this guy is no pushover, looking more threatening than the other convicts.

"I'm surprised that you had noticed me before the others," the man said.

"I can be observant if I wanted to," Yuri answered, "You were probably hoping that one of us would drop our guard before you could ambush one of us. Am I right?"

"Partially," the man said, "I didn't want to harm any of you…but I must." The man got into a stance of sorts after the sentence.

Yuri made an intrigued noise. "Alright then," Lloyd let out a yelp, prompting the female to look to see that the dark haired male tossed his sword over to the male brunette…as the said dark haired male cracked his knuckles. "I was looking for an excuse to punch something. I guess I'll settle with you."

"…What the hell is with you and fighting constantly?" Rita questioned, "I don't see anything remotely fascinating with fighting until you either faint or die!"

"Don't worry," the dark haired male assured her, "I nearly took down an entire guild back home with nothing but my fists. And challenging battles are a lot more fun."

"That's, um…interesting…" Sheena couldn't help but raise her brow at this. _'He sure is a weird guy…'_ She added in her head.

"And besides," Yuri added, "The numbers are evened out. So let's go!" He charged at the blue haired man at the exclamation.

"Wait-!" Sheena was only able to let out before she had to dodge a bolt fired at her. She muttered a curse under her breath and pulled out her Seals as the others rushed in to battle against the other convicts.

She had to sacrifice a couple of her enchanted cards to defend herself against a couple of bolts from the convicts with the crossbow, weaving between them as she darted close to one of them. The kunoichi didn't give the man a chance to reload before she slapped a card onto him then blasted him away with a Pyre Seal. She turned her attention to the other, flinging a couple of Mirage Seals and Serpent Seals on him before she drop kicked the man.

Sheena took stock of the others as they fended off their own convict. Zelos was defending Raine as she used her Healing Artes, facing off against a convict with a club. Lloyd tag-teamed with Presea to take on a couple of convicts with the daggers and axe as Genis and Rita casted Aqua Edge and Champagne – and did she see a large claw coming out of the book Rita held out to a convict that got near her? She also noticed Colette dodging an archer's arrows with her wings…or more like, the guy was trying to hit her with an arrow and her 'dodges' were more like little accidents – she was even tripping in midair!

With Yuri…he and the blue haired man seemed on par with each other. The man is agile, but so is Yuri, each of them dodging the other's punches (or kicks for the man), blocking the blows… The ninja was surprised that Yuri is able to hold his own against someone like the man-

She slammed her elbow onto the convict's face without looking. The guy really shouldn't try to sneak up on a ninja… She thought as the man fell back onto the floor.

A yelp got her attention, seeing the two men were a couple of feet away, the blue haired man rubbing his cheek tenderly as Yuri had a hand over his chest, panting a little. From what she could see in the light, there was a bruise on Yuri's chest. And the kunoichi had a feeling that Yuri might be in trouble.

"Yuri-!" Lloyd was able to get out as the man charged at the dark haired male-

Presea rushed forward and blocked the kick with her axe – almost effortlessly in fact – and shoved the man back…or rather, sent the man flying a little, to the ninja's surprise. The blue haired convict, however, landed on his feet, getting into stance as he gritted his teeth a little. Presea didn't move, simply staring at him as he stared quietly back-

The man's blue eyes suddenly went wide in shock. "You! You're-!"

"Fireball!" Genis and Rita yelled, cutting him off. The man had to dodge the fire balls from the two mages.

The other convicts with him seemed to have backed up with him, some of them carrying the unconscious. "…Ugh… Retreat for now!" He exclaimed.

"Dammit! This just ain't worth it!" One of them exclaimed before they all turned and fled back the way they came, disappearing into the shadows.

"Wait-!" Lloyd let out; about to follow them but a groan from Yuri made everyone turn to him. The dark haired male had fallen to his knee, a grimace on his face as he had a hand over his chest.

"Yuri!" Lloyd exclaimed as they ran over to him.

A grunt escaped from him, but he made a pained smirk at them. "Don't worry," he assured them, "It's not too bad."

Raine just forced him to sit on the ground (the dark haired man let out a hiss, doing so) and moved his hand from his chest. "You don't sound fine," she said, taking the belt off to move the shirt and vest back to look over the bruise.

…She couldn't help but stare at the muscular chest the dark haired male has, feeling her cheeks heat up a little…taking in the pecks…the abs…

"Sheena?" Colette's voice snapped her out of her trance, the kunoichi doing a take and looked over at the blonde.

"Huh?" She answered intelligently.

"What's wrong?" She asked, tilting her head, "You were staring at Yuri for a while."

Oh CRAP! She…ah, crap, she didn't mean to _stare_!

"Oohhh…" To make matters worse, the idiot Chosen spoke up. She jerked her head to the red haired man, who was looking at her with a sly look. "It looks like my voluptuous hunny has a little crush on Yuri."

The ninja found herself unable to speak, too embarrassed to come up with an excuse. It didn't help when some of the others stared at her as well…

Fortunately, Raine had healed the bruise in just a few minutes, the dark haired male let out a sigh (getting their attention once again). "Thanks…"

"It's no trouble," the silver haired half-elf said as she stood up. Yuri stood up as well, as the older female started to walk away, putting his vest and shirt back on followed by his belt. "We best be going; after what happened a few minutes ago, I'd rather not take any chances for another ambush."

"About time!" Rita exclaimed, "I can't stand the stench of this place anymore!"

"Speaking of which, how come YOU'RE not complaining about the stench?" Genis questioned the dark haired male as they followed the orange clad female. "You did about a few minutes ago!"

"I've endured worse," was his answer, shrugging a little.

"…Nothing really faze you, does it?" Rita had a bored look on her face as she said that.

The dark clad swordsman didn't reply immediately, letting out a small grunt afterwards, but the kunoichi caught him muttering to himself, "You have no idea…"

Although initially confused by his words, the purple clad female wisely chose not to ask.

…Because he isn't the only one with their own brand of problems… she thought, thinking about the Summon Spirit of Lightning…

She gave out a small shudder – recalling what had happened twelve years ago – and hopes that no one else had noticed…

_**~o~**_

_Everything was blurry. The color is in nothing but black, gray and dark gray. He can't even tell what is what, or what's going on._

_A figure in front of him…but why does this person seem…taller than him? Another, much larger figure is in front – or behind? – the first figure and it raised its arm-_

_A swipe and what looked like a large ribbon of blood came out of the figure in front of him. He was frozen at his spot, watching with wide eyes as the person's top half fell to the ground before their lower half toppled over._

_There are more figures around him, running around, and he had no idea what was going on, trying to find a cause for whatever chaos that's happening. Someone grabbed his arm and tried to jerk him back – almost as if they had to get out of somewhere and had to take him with them – and he pulled back instinctively-_

_Something caught his eye. Couple of ways behind the larger figure – which some of the smaller figures seemed to be trying to take down – there was another figure. They held up their hands and…some sort of light appeared._

_And he didn't know why but…something spurred him to try to stop this person. He got out of someone else's grip and made a dash towards the other figure._

_It felt as if he was walking on…something. No matter how fast he tried to run, the figure seemed to go further and further away. He tried to reach out to try to grab the person – _why does his hand look…small? _– but they remained out of reach._

_The person began to fire something. He opened his mouth, and – feeling what seemed to be tears forming at the corner of his eyes – all that came out was:_

"_NO! PLEASE STOP! !"_

Yuri's eyes shot open and he bolted up from the bed. He panted heavily, his face coated in sweat. Once his breathing had evened, he slowly put a hand over his temple, groaning. What…in the hell was _that_? He never had that dream before!

None that that had looked…bizarre; yet, why did it…unnerve him? Something was nagging at the back of his mind that…he _had_ gone through something like that. And if it unnerved like this, he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ know what it means…

The dark haired male looked around, once he had calmed himself. Oh, right. This was the room he had used previously when they spent the night at Zelos'…they all agreed to rest here for the night until a couple of pals from the Elemental Research Institute finished making an…EC – short for Elemental Cargo, as told by Presea – for them to cross over to Sybak. Sheena had really come through for them, since it was her idea to come here to ask these guys for help – even though he felt some half-elves below them.

…However, he isn't sure if he could trust that red garbed ninja-guy. What was his name – Kuchinawa? At least, that's what his name sounded like. When his eyes lay upon Sheena, the dark haired male could see…hatred within his eyes. Yet Sheena trusted this man. So then…why does this man hate her? Did something happen back then to make him do so?

To his annoyance, he doesn't have the answers…and he's thinking too much again. Damn, he needed some fresh air.

He left his vest and sword where they were, pulling on his boots and silently went out of his room. As he made his way to the entrance, he heard another door opening but he ignored it – probably someone getting a glass of water, going back to their room or something – and just let his legs take him to his destination. His hands are in his pocket – brushing against the piece of his Bodhi Blastia – and looked up at the sky.

…It's still strange to not see Brave Vesperia above them, he thought, idly looking for the brightest star in the sky. …Although, it's technically _not_ a star, only a part of the Barrier Blastia that had kept their world safe from the Adephagoes.

Although he and Rita were careful to not reveal much about their world – who knows if someone would end up screwing their world over with that information – when they had to explain to Zelos and Sheena about where they are from and such. Much like he did with Lloyd, Gene, Raine, and Colette (to an extent) along with Presea (also to an extent) a few days back…

Though, when Rita mentioned about what Richter and Aster had told her – where they saw streaks of light in the sky before one of them landed before the two, revealing Rita – the two of them had figured that two more from their group may have landed in Tethe'alla as well. And that the others are probably somewhere in Sylvarant (they hoped…) – but they don't know to be sure.

He blinked his gray eyes when he noticed that he found himself around where they had come out of from the sewers – the park. He looked around. Okay, good, no one is around. The dark haired male went over to a streetlamp and leaned against it, looking up at the sky.

…Despite the crap he had gone through, he never thought that he'd want some peace and quiet, he thought as he closed his eyes and leaned back onto the lamp as much as he could, a small smile forming on his lips. Moments like these are pretty rare – what, with how hectic his life had been for as long as he could remember. It felt as if something out there is against him merely relaxing. All he did was trying to survive down at the Lower Quarter and training himself for six years, running himself to the ground in an effort to get strong – strong enough so that he'll be capable of taking on anything when he recruited himself to the knights. And despite the Bodhi Blastia that he had after leaving the knights, he continued to train himself – pushing himself to the limit – to get stronger; he even trained Repede to be able to use a knife (instead of his claws and fangs, in case something happens) but that somewhat ended up in an accident that got Repede that scar over his eye…

And yet the dog insists on getting as strong as the young man who adopted him, and they managed to overcome that with persistence. There was also the fact that there are things that are out to kill him and the others – from assassins, monsters, some guildsmen, etc…. So…yeah, not a lot of time to relax and stuff, with them being on edge the whole time.

Yuri looked back up at the sky again, a couple of clouds rolling in as his hair swayed a little. He let out a sigh, getting up from the pole and walked out of the park-

A pained grunt was caught in his throat as something nailed him on his back – between his shoulder blades as a matter of fact – and his eyes widened as he felt his wings burst forth, blood leaking down his back. After his face had a nice meeting with the ground, he slowly pushed himself from the ground, hearing his wings flap behind him and turned to the bastard responsible-

Russet eyes made him stop in his tracks, the man's messy red hair and tails from his white suit swaying in the wind a little. The man narrowed his eyes down at the young man below him. "We need to talk," his deep voice said.

And Yuri _really_ didn't like the tone the man had used, and he thought:

'_Oh fuck…'_

* * *

**It's done! *a random chorus sang 'Halleluiah'* Sorry for the wait.**

…**And so Kratos confronts Yuri when he's all by his lonesome. What does the ancient Seraphim want with Yuri? Will something happen to our favorite sarcastic swordsman? …And why am I asking you this? I'm not revealing anything, so, sorry.**

**In other news, what exactly is going on with poor Yuri? His wings turning solid, the freaky dream, and he nearly got his ass handed to him by Regal! One thing after another for the poor guy! …And I like being evil – sometimes picking on my favorite characters is FUN! He he… X3**

**So…did I get Regal's character right? Or does the chapter seem crappy to you? Let me know in a review – like I said a few chapters back, hit me with your best shot.**

**Reviews are loved! Flames will be used to cook mabo curry – Yuri's favorite food – and to help me cook my own dinner.**


	14. Chapter 13

New chappie! Yay!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Otherwise, Bandai/Namco will hound my ass and kill me if I say I own their games; I know it's unlikely, but it's possible.**

* * *

Lloyd had just came out of the bathroom when he noticed Yuri walking out the door. The male brunette shouldn't be concerned – after all, Yuri usually go out like this during the night from time to time – but…something told him that he had to follow the dark haired male. Getting his boots and pants on (leaving his jacket behind) – and taking his swords, just in case – he hurried out of the door. However, he isn't sure which way Yuri had gone to – Meltokio is a big city after all. The dark haired swordsman could've gone anywhere in this place.

The young brunette suddenly remembered a habit he usually finds Yuri in. And if he could remember from what Yuri had told him about his life thus far…

He nodded and made his way to where the park is. They had come through there from the sewers earlier that day, so it's still fresh in his mind. The young brunette knew that he shouldn't worry – after all, Yuri's able to take care of himself – but, to be honest, you may never know what might happen-

Lloyd heard a grunt of pain when he got close to the park. The boy nearly froze – that sounded like Yuri! He quickened his pace to get there faster-

"We need to talk."

A familiar voice stopped him in his tracks, and his blood ran cold. It couldn't be…

Lloyd pressed himself against the wall and slides himself against it until he got himself at the corner of a building. Trying to be as silent as he could, he looked over the corner, into the park.

He was able to see Kratos – clad in white/dark blue, instead of the dark purple outfit he was accustomed on seeing the man wear – standing over Yuri as the dark clad male slowly stood up. But that was the _second_ thing he saw. The _first_ thing he saw was out of Yuri's back, which made his eyes widened in shock. _'What…?'_

"You…" Yuri let out, shakily turning to the man, "I remember seeing you back a couple of days ago...at the top of Fooji Mountains…"

Kratos merely grunted, looking over the appendages idly flapping behind the purple haired man. The moment Lloyd had blinked, he heard Yuri yelp in surprise and – to his shock – Kratos had somehow gotten behind the dark clad swordsman, running a finger against a part of the wings.

"You haven't let your wings out in a while," he merely said, "If you leave them within you for too long, they'll eventually become a part of you."

Yuri grunted and backed away from the Cruxis angel. "Yeah, well, I don't need you to tell me that," he retorted, "Why in the hell should I listen to _you_?"

The man grunted again. "Do what you want," he said, "However, there are a few questions I wanted to ask you; questions that you _must_ answer. And even if you refuse…I highly doubt that you'll last long."

Lloyd gritted his teeth, along with Yuri. Damn, there's no way that Yuri would be able to take on Kratos – Lloyd had seen how strong the man is. Even with the two of them, there's no way that they could take the red haired man down.

And it seems that Yuri knew that too, his shoulders slacking in defeat. "Fine," he snapped, "What do you want to know?"

"…Who exactly are your parents?" The question even made Yuri blink.

"What? Why does that seem important?"

Kratos crossed his arms. "You don't have an Exsphere, nor a Cruxis Crystal giving you your strength," he said. "However, even _with_ one, you wouldn't be able to take down Yuan; the man is not a pushover."

"…I could see that…" Lloyd managed to hear the dark haired male mutter to himself.

"And yet, somehow, you had managed to injure him, surpassing his own strength," Kratos continued to explain, "That not even a low class angel – or even the Chosen – would be able to do."

Wait, angels have classes? And he somehow had a feeling that it's not like the ones in school…

…And not even Colette would be a match against him?

"Like hell I know how I've done it!" Yuri retorted, "I just…did it."

"You just did it?" The white clad man repeated – his tone sounded skeptical.

The dark haired male growled. "Even if I did knew how, I don't think I'll be able to explain it," he said through his clenched teeth, "I've only gotten these damn things two weeks ago, when your damn boss attacked me on my world!" He pointed at Kratos when he said the last part.

'_What…?'_ Lloyd let out in his mind, surprised. Two weeks? Wait- So _Yuri_ was the bluish-purple light he had saw flying off of the Rheaird? ?

"I see…" Kratos let out, getting the brunette's attention back to them.

The dark clad male lowered his arm, his dark eyes narrowed. "See what?" He demanded, with his voice icy.

He didn't answer the question – but, instead, asked: "So you really don't know who your parents are? Or…do you merely not remember them?"

The flat expression broke when Yuri did a take. "Wha…?"

"It is…forbidden for an angel to mate with a mortal," Lloyd blinked when he heard the Cruxis angel hesitate on 'forbidden'. "Not that the low class angels have the mind to do it. And yet, somehow, you have wings – something that only a Cruxis angel should only have with the Cruxis Crystal."

"…What are you saying?" There was an odd…tone in his voice – his eyes wide. Was…was Yuri afraid of what Kratos might be talking about?

The red haired man didn't say anything for a moment. Then:

"…You are…not fully human. That much I can tell you."

An unnerving silence flits by in the park. Yuri's eyes were still wide, and then they went wider, his pupils nearly small as dots. He took a step back…and from the way his mouth had moved, the brunette could tell he was saying 'No' repeatedly, shaking his head before he gripped some of his dark purple hair into his hands and curled into a ball, balanced on his feet with his knees to his chest.

Seeing the normally sarcastic man like this is…unnerving to say the least. But what did Kratos mean? Yuri…isn't a human – or rather a full one? But if he isn't, then what is he-?

He saw Kratos taking a couple of steps to the dark clad male. Lloyd reacted instinctively and rushed out, pulling out his swords and stood between the two men. The Cruxis angel merely stared down at him, as if not surprised to see the red clad male…but Lloyd had a feeling that Kratos knew that he was there the whole time.

"Lloyd," the man even had the gall to address him.

He just growled at the man. "What the hell are you doing here, Kratos?" He demanded.

The red haired man merely flicked his eyes over to the man behind Lloyd, then back at the boy. "I merely came here to see if he is a likely threat to Cruxis. Though…" he looked back at Yuri, adding, "It doesn't seem likely that he'll be a direct threat, seeing that he wasn't able to harness his power."

The young brunette gritted his teeth in anger. "So you're going to kill Yuri…because your boss is afraid of him? !"

"No," the answer made Lloyd jerk, staring at the man in surprise. "However, if he is unable to control his power, he might end up killing all of you…and anyone else around him."

Lloyd's eyes went wide and looked over his shoulder to look at the man curled up, still muttering to himself as his wings flapped idly. Yuri…could do that?

The boy shook his head and glared back at Kratos defiantly. No…from what he could get from the dark purple haired male, Yuri would never kill innocent people – unless he was forced to in order to save someone else's life. And he helped save Genis and the Professor when they were about to be executed by the Pope's men. Yuri…isn't a bad person.

"Yuri isn't like that," he said with firm conviction, "He wouldn't kill people for sick pleasure or if they pissed him off."

"I'll admit…." Lloyd loosened his stance to stare at his feet, "I haven't known him long; he's been with us for nearly two weeks. But…somehow," he looked back up at the white clad man, "somehow I have a feeling that Yuri would do anything to protect people. Even if he does have power, I think that Yuri would rather kill himself than to hurt others."

"…If he does, do you believe it's wise to trust this man any further?" Kratos shot back, looking at him with his head tilted and his brow raised a smidge.

"…!" His own eyes went wide, unconsciously thinking back to the times before they entered to Tower of Salvation…back to where he had trusted Kratos…

Lloyd narrowed his eyes again. "I believe in Yuri. Even if his power goes out of control…even if what you said is true, about him being a threat to everyone… I swear that I will try everything in my power to help him. And I will make sure that Cruxis would no longer do harm to Yuri, Colette and everyone else! I'll take them down if I have to! And with everyone else! Count on it!"

Silence flit by once again. Then Kratos closed his eyes, and grunted with a smirk on his face. "We'll see if you'll be able to back up those words…" He merely said, before he turned and walked away.

"Huh? Uh- Hey!" Lloyd let out too late before the shadows consumed the man.

The male brunette stood there dumbly, looking at where the angel had left. "…What the hell is with that guy?" He muttered to himself, "Even before the tower, I can never figure him out…"

His attention was diverted when he faintly heard something. It was…humming? And it seemed to be coming from…behind him?

The twin-swordsman looked over his shoulder, at…Yuri? He was still in the same position when he was talking to Kratos, but…what was it he was humming? For some reason, it sounded…familiar. Especially that one part that sounded like… 'sapientiam… et lingua eius… loquetur indicium'-

Huh? He mentally let out as he blinked.

Lloyd shook his head and sheathed his swords before he crouched at Yuri's level. "Yuri, it's okay, he's gone now," he said.

But the man still hummed to himself – as if he didn't hear what Lloyd had said. That made the brunette worried. Lloyd gripped the man by the shoulders and shook him. "Yuri, c'mon! Snap out of it!" Still no response from the dark haired man, prompting the boy to shake him harder. "Yuri! !"

The boy was starting to get scared when he didn't so much as _flinch_, or even _react_ when shaken like that. He thought of one thing that might snap him out of it. Lloyd gritted his teeth, drew his arm back with his hand clenched into a fist-

And he punched Yuri as hard as he could, damn near making the man plow to the ground.

The boy panted, watched the man as he laid there for a few moments, as if stunned. Slowly, the man pushed himself from the floor, but he stayed seated onto the ground, his back to the boy. For a while, the man didn't say anything.

Feeling concerned for the dark haired male, Lloyd spoke:

"Yuri?"

Suddenly the man's shoulders shook as the dark clad swordsman began to chuckle, before it turned into a wild chuckle. As Lloyd began to feel a bit weirded out (and starting to feel scared again), the man calmed down a little to let out:

"You know…before all of this, I never questioned my origins. I figured that it didn't really matter, because…the past is in the past. Life is cruel…no matter how you look at it…"

Yuri let out a bitter chuckle. "It sure is biting me on the ass now…"

The male brunette frowned. "Yuri, it doesn't really matter what-"

"Of course it does!" The man suddenly snapped, twisting his head to sharply look at the brunette as he stood up in one motion-

Lloyd looked startled. Despite the dark haired man glaring at him…there were tears running down his cheeks. The dark clad swordsman turned from the boy and walked over to the wall. "The people that I knew…" He continued as he made his way over to it, "The people that I've cared about…all of them are…normal. There are a few exceptions, but…they're still normal."

The man placed a hand onto the stone, his head bowed. "Up until I got these…wings," he hesitated when he said that word, "I was…normal. An orphan that grew up alone in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias… The people there raised me the best they could…raised me like…a human being. But…" the hand on the wall became a fist and he pounded on the wall – making a couple of cracks on it. "Who the hell am I kidding? I was…never normal to begin with…" He shifted his arm to make prop it against the wall and placed his forehead onto it.

The boy stared at the dark haired swordsman silently. The wind blew by, tousling their hair, and a couple of sparkles flew off from the wings. Lloyd wasn't sure how to respond to something like that. The male brunette mulled over Yuri's words…then opened his mouth to speak.

"You know… Even if people are _born_ normal, I don't think that they'll stay normal, because their choices as they lived will define if they are normal, or not at all. Me, Colette and Genis are friends…but we were never normal. I think," he paused to find the right words, "I think that being around people you cared about makes you feel normal. I wasn't from Iselia and was raised by a dwarf; Colette is the Chosen One of our world; and Genis is an 'elf', or at least he and his sister told us when they first arrived – a lot people from the village treated us differently because we're different."

"But I think being different doesn't mean a thing," he continued, "Just because you're…maybe an angel, or not fully human, doesn't mean that I have to treat you differently. Like I said back at the bridge, to Genis and the Professor, who cares if you're different – I figured that everything being the same is just bad; and not to mention boring. Even after we found out about what Genis and the Professor are really half-elves, I didn't treat them differently; and neither have you." He didn't bother to mention that Yuri had said that he didn't consider himself normal back at the bridge…but even Lloyd was wise to figure that _this_ is different from the time at the bridge.

He walked up to Yuri and placed his hand onto the man's left shoulder. "So…just don't forget that you have friends that care about you. And who knows?" He grinned as he added, "They probably won't care about what you are!"

A small chuckle got the male brunette to look at Yuri curiously, seeing a small smile. "That's…kinda like what Flynn said…"

Lloyd wanted to know what he meant, but he decided to put the question on hold for a moment. "And…one more thing," he began, letting go of Yuri's shoulder, "It doesn't matter who your parents are – you're still you, regardless of what you are and who your parents are. You're a good person Yuri. You just…don't show it much."

Silence went by in the park once again for several moments before Yuri slowly pushed himself from the wall. "You're too kind Lloyd…" He said, "Although…kindness would only get you far. But…other than that," he turned to look at Lloyd and feathered his head. The male brunette began to protest when Yuri added:

"Thanks; I really needed that." When Lloyd saw the gratitude in Yuri's eyes – still gray, not green whatsoever (at the moment) – the brunette couldn't help but blush a little, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Lloyd quickly got the hand off and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, yeah," he said, "But, that's what friends do, right?" He smiled as he looked up at the elder male.

The dark haired male stared at Lloyd for a moment…before he smiled down at him as well. "Yeah."

For a moment, Lloyd thought that this smile seemed…genuine. But, again, he mentally shrugged it off as the wind blew by again, and he couldn't help but put his hands onto his biceps to rub them, shivering a little. "Oh man… I didn't even notice how cold it is until now!" He exclaimed, mentally cursing himself for not bringing his jacket.

"Yeah, we better get back or the Professor will flip out on us for staying out late." Lloyd looked up in time to see Yuri put away his wings – the same way Colette did – and took a few steps forward. Then paused a little and looked over at the young brunette. "Oh, uh, could…you not tell anyone about this?"

"Huh?" The boy blinked, "Why-?" He stopped himself when he noticed a particular look Yuri was giving him. And he understood. He nodded, "Okay. But…seriously, I have a feeling that the others would find out one day."

Yuri visibly shuddered. "Don't remind me…"

As the two silently walked back to Zelos' mansion, Lloyd looked up at the dark haired male. "By the way, does anyone else besides me know about this? The wings?"

"Well…the only person who knew about it – and was pretty much there to witness it – was Flynn," was his reply.

"Oh." Then another thought hit him. "Wait, so Flynn was there when you got those?"

"Yup. They hurt like a bitch when they came out, though."

"…What exactly does that mean?"

"If I told you, I think that Raine would slap me until I was dead for teaching you those words."

"…Can she do that?"

Yuri sighed. "Just forget it."

_**~o~**_

There are a lot of things Yuri had learned during his time here in Tethe'alla. While they were far less then enjoyable, frankly, it isn't so bad. Almost as if he belonged here…but a part of him always knew that Terca Lumireis will always be his home world (and mildly wondering where in the hell that thought came from…).

Yet, he never knew that Raine would get terribly sea-sick over the water – or rather, she had an extreme fear of water – seeing her in a corner, clutching a bucket for dear life as her face looked green. When he asked Gene if it was normal for her to be like this, and the kid replied that he hadn't seen her sister like this before the Regeneration Journey – not even Gene knew that she was afraid of the water up until that point.

Not only that, he thought as he looked over their 'ship'. Well, if he could call it one – they DID say that it was a cargo ship after all… The Fiertia is a REAL ship, after all; and a lot bigger, too, considering that the EC is a little…cramped.

Like last time, it took them a couple of days to get back to the bridge. Their plan is to use the EC near the small dock located next to the opening at the Altamira region. The red ninja from a few days ago was there, as well – and he saw the look of hatred in his eyes when he looked at Sheena again – handing them…some sort of small package that's rectangular in shape with a sort of symbol on it. Although most of them were annoyed by how the hell something that small could help, Sheena and Zelos assured them that this thing will help the group.

After a small demonstration, they showed what the Wingpack – that's what the little package is called – could do, they explained that if an object is within the certain mass limit, the Wingpack can store it. And it shows, the EC going into the small thing as…data streams, disappearing before their eyes!

As Lloyd, Gene and Colette played with the Wingpack, and Rita bugging Zelos of how they could do something like that, the dark haired male thought he heard the Professor muttering why she felt she had seen the spectacle before… It was immediately shrugged off when all of them got into the EC – and _damn_ the ship was cramped!

While Undine – the blue skinned woman that felt…denser than the man in white (who Lloyd told him is named Kratos), Yggdrasill and that Yuan guy – powered the ship with Sheena driving, she informed them that they'll be able to arrive at the small pier outside of Sybak in about 4-5 hours; so they pretty much had time to kill. And that would end up getting boring after a while.

He heard a snore next to him, and he looked, seeing Lloyd out like a light in his seat. The dark haired male raised his brow. Not even a few minutes in, and he's dead to the world already? Something tells him that the kid had a short-attention span; because he seemed excited when they got on the boat a few minutes ago…

Yuri sighed through his nose and leaned back onto the seat, with his eyes closed. Once again, he let his mind drift over to the past couple of days after Lloyd discovered his…'secret'. The boy made true with his promise not to tell anyone about what he saw – or rather witnessed – the night before they left Meltokio again. And during the nights on where they had to camp out, for some reason, a part of him wanted to heed Kratos' advice on letting his wings out when he's alone or Lloyd is awake with him when the boy has night-watch duty. As the days gone by, the wings returned to their translucent selves when they first appeared. At that, he was a bit relieved, but he _really_ didn't want a repeat on last time – that'll just set everyone off on what's going on with him; and that's the _last _thing he wanted.

…Nor did he want anyone to know about the strange dreams he had – especially the return of the malevolent presence that had haunted him since day one. He shuddered, recalling bits of the dream…but, Flynn wouldn't kill him for what he is…would he-?

"Hey Yuri," he blinked his eyes open and looked over at Rita, who was looking at him from her seat.

He blinked curiously at her. "What is it?"

"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you," she said, turning around to make herself more comfortable. "I forgot to ask about it until today."

Yuri raised his brow. "What is it?" He asked.

"…You still have the Bodhi Blastia that Alexei broke?" Again, Yuri blinked.

"Well, yeah, but why…?" He purposely trailed off, wanting to hear what the girl had to say.

The genius mage glanced to the side, and back to him. "You could only do Artes with a Bodhi Blastia," she stated, as if it was common knowledge that should be known – and he did know. "And yet…during the time I've been with you guys, you were somehow able to do Artes without your Bodhi Blastia."

At that, he blinked in surprise. But the girl continued:

"And since the tools I needed are necessary to fix a Bodhi Blastia are back on our world, we're basically out of luck. Especially you; but," she made a stern look at the dark haired male, "somehow, you were able to use your Artes without a Bodhi Blastia. Much like, you-know-who." She purposely didn't say Estelle – they both wanted to keep what Estelle is a secret from anyone who wanted to use her power; they didn't want a repeat on last time. "So…how did were you able to do that?"

At that, even Yuri was at a loss. To be honest, he really didn't think of it much, with everything that had been going on lately – it was when Rita pointed it out that he felt…a wee bit confused.

He let out a grunt and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know…that's a good question."

"Wait, so you don't know?"

The dark haired male shrugged helplessly. "I guess," He said, "I just…did it, on instinct, maybe."

Rita raised her brow at him. "You really are a strange guy, you know that?"

"I've been called worse."

The red clad female let out a bored grunt before she turned back in her seat, muttering things to herself. He could hear her, but he wanted to respect her privacy and tuned her out. He lied back onto the seat and closed his eyes. Maybe he could take a nap – time might go by faster if he does.

It wasn't long until he was out like a light, himself…

_**~o~**_

_Once more, she found him within the small realm – a grassland with a giant tree in the center – she had crafted within his mind, almost over twenty years ago. She figured she would leave a piece of herself onto her fiancé, in case something would happen. And yet…she never imagined that all of this could happen. That he would find love again…and the woman – this young man's mother – had bared his child. _

_She had grown rather fond of the boy, after she first met him on accident. He was only five at the time when it happened, when he stumbled onto this world._

_After that, he would often enter this realm – usually on accident, while he was still asleep, or when he was conscious within this realm. And while she liked his company…she couldn't help but feel the torment within his heart after a past couple of days – especially when her brother had appeared before the young man._

_She got to her knees, sitting next to the young man as he slept on peacefully at the roots of the giant tree, as if he was unaware of her company. She frowned in concern, the wind making her long, leaf green hair shift in the wind. "Had I known this would happen, maybe I shouldn't have taken a hit meant for Mithos…" She murmured softly, "And yet, it seemed to be fate that it would lead up to this point…"_

_She reached out and gently stroked his head; much like his father would often do (if to sometimes comfort him). The young man let out a small grunt and seemingly leaned into the stroke. "I know that a thousand apologies could never atone for the things my brother had done for the past four-thousand years, but…please do not blame him for all of the things he had did." She closed her green eyes, bowing her head in shame. "He was trying to fulfill my last wish before my death…yet I could never imagine the things he had done up to this point. And now everyone is paying for the mistakes that had happened back at the end of the war, caused by the countries of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."_

_She opened her eyes again to look over his face, cupping his right cheek. "And now, you and your friends had gotten involved in this conflict, along with Kratos' son, his friends, and of the people that you two will eventually meet. Please be strong, and endure…much like the lyrics of the song your mother had created, just for you." She added as she brushed some of his dark purple hair from his face-_

_She felt a shift in the air. She looked in the direction of the shift, seeing a rip in the realm._

_She was able to see a figure standing at one of the tall structures that is a part of the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, looking down at something. The figure then pulled out large wings – colored blue, but shaped more like the wings of a crane – and flew upwards, before the rip disappeared._

_Once more, Martel frowned, concerned. "They had noticed him…"_

_She knew about this particular race – they had been around longer than the elves had been, ever since they left Derris Kharlan nearly ten thousand years ago…_

_She could only hope that they wouldn't do any harm to the young man, Yuri…_

* * *

…**Well, that didn't look good. That last part, I mean.**

**Yuri: "Yeah…and the part during Lloyd's point of view is longer than mine in this chapter."**

**Karol: "Quit complaining Yuri. The rest of us didn't get our own point of view!"**

**Oh, cool. Company again.**

**Yuri: "Gee, don't sound so enthusiastic…"**

**Dude, I'm attending my second semester of college – my financial aid is crap, I'd rather not have other things crap on my life, thank you.**

**Karol: "But what about-"**

**Speak of it, and I'll smack you to the moon. Got it?**

**Karol: *lets out a yelp***

**And besides, you had your point of view twice last chapter, Yuri. Anyways…I have a small announcement to make. I created a forum for this fanfic – you could either find it on my profile or in the forums section in the Tales of Vesperia section of this here site. I created it, because there will be points where I might need some help with a couple of ideas. I already have two topics set up, so…if you have the time, drop on by and put in a couple of suggestions; ones that might be helpful. I won't take credit of the ideas you've sent for me – not only is it low, but I just don't want to steal any ideas and claim that they were mine. I don't want you guys to come at me, kill me and chop my carcass into little, bite sized pieces…**

**Estelle: "…Would they do that?"**

**It's possible.**

**Yuri, Karol, and Estelle: "…"**

**Anyways…how do you guys like this chapter? Is it too boring? Not enough action? Please let me know in a review. And remember: check out my forums and leave an idea if you have any. If I like your ideas, I'll show your name in the beginning of the chapter that the idea will appear in. Again, leave a review and I hope you'll look forward to the next chapter! ^^**

**Karol: "Potential flames will be used to burn Alexei's carcass!"**

**Yuri: "…That seems a bit extreme but…" *pulls out a large bucket of buttered popcorn* "I call front row seat!"**

…**Are you going to share those?**

**Yuri: "No."**

**Aw…**

**(By the way...the part Lloyd was able to translate... If you had watched an anime called Elfen Lied, you'd recognize what song it is. In which case, I don't own the song Lilium.)**


	15. Special: Repede

Another special! Featuring Repede! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. The only things I own is the laptop I'm using and a few things I have; but not the characters From Namco/Bandai.**

_If you hadn't watched the Tales of Vesperia movie, then there will be spoilers. You've been warned._

* * *

He stayed hidden within the bushes, silently waiting for his opponent to make the first move. He kept his ears straight up, turning them every so often to try to locate him; listening for the slightest sound, waiting for him to make a slip up. A rustle in the bushes, but his sense of smell told him that it was just an animal.

…Or is it?

He used his sense of smell once more (a deep one this time) and managed to pick up another scent. His target is nearby…now he had to draw them out. Doing that is the tricky part. He shifted his head carefully – to not make any noise – to find something to lure them out. His eye shifted over to the pipe in his mouth; it's the only thing he has on him right now – besides his knife. It will have to do.

Twirling the pipe in his mouth, he adjusted the pipe then flicked his head, flinging the pipe into the air before he used his tail to send the pipe into a nearby bush.

The bushes that had rustled previously lost a couple of leaves when something shot out of them. The sunlight didn't reveal who the person is as they (clumsily) threw small objects at the bushes where he sent his pipe into. When the person was about to land onto the ground, he shot out of the bushes-

And grabbed his target by the back of his kimono; leaving the little boy dangling a little from his teeth.

"Aw! No fair!" The little boy exclaimed, trying to wriggle himself out of the dog's 'grasp'. An explosion got his attention (making the boy go silent) and turned to the source, seeing – after the smoke cleared – a man in a blue, ninja garb.

"That's enough for today Kohta," the man – Repede _still_ couldn't get over on how the man sounded similar to Cumore – said to the little boy, "Although your patience and camouflage is good, you shouldn't just attack at first sight or when you think you heard your enemy. As Repede just showed." The dog placed the boy lightly onto the ground as the boy nodded sadly.

"Okay…" He heard the boy mutter as he trotted towards the bush to pick up his pipe.

"…Not everyone becomes a master within a day," the man added, walking up to the boy, as the dog trotted back to the boy, "So do not be disheartened by today, young one." He said, dropping to the boy's level and placed a hand onto his head.

"Arooo…" Repede had let out – prompting the boy to look at him – to let the boy know that he's right. It honestly had taken the people in the village a while to figure out what the dog was trying to say, seeing how intelligent the canine is.

As if the boy had seen the emotion in his eye, the ends of Kohta's lips twitched a little before they became a small smile. "Okay, sempai," he nodded.

The man nodded as well, and stood up. "C'mon, we best head back into the village. The sun is setting."

"Right," the boy nodded again before the three of them began their trek back to the village.

To the Hidden Village of Ninjas, Mizuho – Repede's temporary home until either he locates the others, or the others find him. Whichever comes first; he didn't care, either way.

As the three of them walked towards the village, the dog warrior thought back to the last few days he had spent, after awakening and wondering aimlessly through a dark forest, tired and weak. He wasn't sure if it was luck that he had saved the child, Kohta, from a pack of monsters before the inhabitants of the village arrived – they would've killed him, since they had never seen a dog like him before (and he was pretty sure that he had never seen people dressed like them, besides Raven; but the old man doesn't count) if Kohta hadn't told them that he had saved the boy from monsters. After that, Repede fainted due to overexertion. The next thing the warrior dog knew, he had woken up within a house of sorts, within this village.

Apparently, the boy and his father took him in, seeing that he was injured, as a repayment for saving the child's life. In the last three days while Repede recovers, the dog had gotten a bit accustomed to the peaceful life within this village – it's so…different, compared to the towns and cities he had been to back in Terca Lumireis; the dog warrior had confirmed that he is no longer on his world after listening in to one of the inhabitants talking to the vice-chief, talking about 'Tethe'alla', 'Sylvarant's Chosen' and 'Mana'. As far as the dog knew, he had never heard of these places before, or this 'Mana'.

On the fifth day, when he had regained enough strength to at least walk around, he eavesdropped on a woman talking to the vice-chief, telling him of her failure to kill Sylvarant's Chosen; but she did partially succeed on stopping the Chosen from completing the World Regeneration ritual. He listened in as the woman in purple – he could smell faint traces of Yuri's scent on her – told him about Cruxis being a lie, that the 'angels' are merely 'half-elves' that had become this way through 'Cruxis Crystals'. Said gems are merely evolved forms of 'Exspheres'; and said that the group from Sylvarant came here to try to cure their friend, who is the current Chosen of Sylvarant. Although the two had argued that the woman had risked the village for doing such an act, the woman – Sheena, if he heard right – assured the vice-chief that this group doesn't intend on finishing the world regeneration ritual; the Chosen of Sylvarant really cared about her world as well as Tethe'alla. The girl is sincere in that she wanted Tethe'alla to not decline after the ritual.

The next day, the vice-chief told Sheena that she is to go back to the group, to act as the village's observer, to see if they'll hold true to what the Chosen of Sylvarant desires. During the whole time, Repede had made sure to stay out of the woman's sight, despite Yuri's scent on her.

The following few days, the dog warrior is well enough to be able to run around, and he took the time to read the strange language that these people used, to try to communicate with them – he was getting tired of being called 'dog' or other insulting names; they should've known that he's smarter than the average dog by now, dammit.

The only people who seemed to see that is the vice-chief, the blue-garbed man (Orochi, right?) and Kohta.

It had taken a while to get used to the language, but he had managed to write his name onto a piece of paper (yes, he knew how to read before meeting Yuri, but he learned how to write from the people who Yuri protects), letting them know his name. It certainly made things easier for them – and himself-

Repede's ear twitched when he heard the sounds from the village as they got closer. He looked up to see Kohta running off towards his house – he took a quick glance over at Orochi, and saw that he was already gone – and slowly followed the boy to his temporary home.

Later that night, Repede lied awake on the small mat that was the 'bed' provided by Kohta and his father. The village is peaceful, sure, but it gets a bit boring after a while. But he supposes that he was more used to the crazy life that was Yuri's-

Yuri…

The dog warrior's thoughts are now on his adopted master. How long has it been since the two of them had been together? Four long years, ever since his father and his previous master had died. Yes, the dark haired man lived up to his promise in taking care of him, in place of his father and master. It's funny, he couldn't help but snort (a dog's version of a chuckle) a little, when they first met, Yuri never really liked him (or any dogs for that matter), since – for some reason – some dogs just don't like Yuri. He remembered Yuri explaining that one time to Flynn and the female twins.

And now, the two of them are the greatest partners in the team – second only to Flynn in terms of combat, but still pretty strong to hold his own in battle.

The dog couldn't help but fall back into his memories, on the day he had first met Yuri…

_Four years ago…_

It seemed like an average day at Ceazontonia, at least, for Repede that is. The young pup was gnawing a little on a small piece of twig he had found yesterday, but wasn't keen on destroying it completely, like most puppies do. At times, he would gather a few things to see which one he would carry. So far, he had found a couple of twigs, a couple of bones but that was it. His father's master (who he also considers his master as well) and the other knights wouldn't let him near silverware – except spoons; they wouldn't let him get near the forks and knives. The puppy didn't feel like gathering spoons though – they were…uninteresting. And the Master wouldn't let the pup have his pipe – he wanted that pipe the most.

The puppy examined his small collection thoroughly, to see which one he would carry around in his mouth today. He couldn't decide between a chicken's thigh bone, and a thick twig.

The sounds of many footsteps got his attention. The puppy was a little confused by what was going on – did something happen? He didn't know what it is; he had to check it out. Repede decided to pick up the twig and hurried out of the pen where he, his father, and the other dogs stayed in.

The puppy soon saw the case of commotion – two new people, with two very different scents. One had a head of bright yellow and the other had long, dark purple-

Huh? The puppy blinked, confused. He took a couple more sniffs. Strange…what is this scent? It's…nothing he had never smelt before.

He had to find the source – plus, he was a bit curious with these two new people.

The cubby puppy quickly trotted over towards his father, who was near Master as he talked to the two people. When he got near, he asked, _"Father, what's going on?"_

The taller dog looked over at the pup. _"These two are new recruits,"_ he answered, before looking back over to the two, _"The blonde is named 'Flynn' while the other is named 'Yuri'. They came here from Zaphias."_

"_The guy with plum colored hair smells funny, though," _another dog, John, commented, wrinkling his nose.

The puppy looked over at the other dog before at the dark purple haired male. So he's the source of the scent? He thought, blinking his bluish-green eyes.

Master then made a gesture to make the two males follow him into the building. Repede hadn't been really paying attention to the words his Master had said, focused entirely on the person named 'Yuri'. The yellow head immediately followed Master as 'Yuri' began to follow-

The male's grey eyes landed on them and – for some reason – had gone stiff. As if he was a statue. Repede couldn't help but tilt his head a little at this; what's with him?

"Yuri!" The exclamation seemed to snap the dark haired male out of the trance they seemed to have him in – and he turned his head to the source, as the voice added, "Hurry up!"

"Uh…right, coming!" The dark haired male casted one last, uneasy look at the dogs, before he quickly jogged to the building; as soon as the doors closed behind him, the dogs looked at each other.

"_What was that about?" _Marcus, another dog, asked.

"_I dunno," _John said, standing up and trotted off, _"But that guy was pretty weird."_

Marcus and his father also got up to leave, but Repede stayed where he was, staring at the doors the dark purple haired male went through. The puppy titled his head a little – he had to agree with John, that person _is_ a bit strange.

…And yet, he couldn't help but be curious about him.

He had to find out more about this person.

Fortunately, there is a type of door that the dogs could use to get into the building without someone else opening the door for them. With that in mind, the cubby pup stood up and quickly scurried off. The door is located around the stables, and is easily accessible for the dogs. Most puppies aren't able to figure out how to access the door; but Repede isn't like most puppies. As soon as he found the 'door', he pulled on a small lever that opened the hatch – in the size of his father and the other dogs – and quickly slipped through before it closed.

Okay, he's inside, the puppy thought, he better try to find that person. Fortunately, that person's strange scent will help the pup find him no problem. He spent the last couple of minutes tracking down the male, leading him down the halls, into a small bed room (he felt someone looking at him as he does so, but he ignored it), into the mess hall, before finding himself at the courtyard, seeing the purple haired male – wearing the casual version of the knight's uniform – swinging his sword around; in a style that the puppy had never saw before. This isn't the fighting style he had seen other knights do…

Huh, how…curious.

Now…how can he get his attention?

Repede knew better than to try to approach a person when they are doing this – he had done that once, and it ended up with Yurgis having to go around with bandages around his forearm for a while, and Master and his father were _really_ angry at him for a while. The pup didn't want a repeat of what happened; he had learned his lesson after what happened that time.

But what other approach could he use? The dark purple haired male looked busy with whatever he's doing if he tries to bark at him. There has to be something he could use…

Oh well, he might as well give barking a shot.

At what he felt is a safe distance from the dark haired male, the pudgy puppy started to bark at him. It took a few moments, but he managed to get the male's attention-

Like when he first saw him, the purple haired male seemed to freeze when his eyes caught sight of the puppy. Repede wasn't sure how long they had been staring at each other – but he knew that it had been a while – just…staring at one another. He tilted his head a little- his blue-green eyes caught the slight flinch from the male. The puppy blinked; what's wrong with him?

Curiosity getting the best of him, the puppy decided to approach the male. The dark purple haired person didn't budge much as the pup slowly trotted up to him – but the pup noted that he sounded…nervous for some reason. The puppy, as soon as he got near his feet, sniffed him a little (and heard a strange…sound coming from the male). The puppy wasn't sure what the smell is…

But he liked it. He liked this person.

The puppy began to rub his head affectionately against the male's shin. As he does, he felt the male relaxing a little. "Uh…yeeeah, that's, um, pretty cute," he heard the male (he sounded a bit nervous), hearing the male move – it sounded like he was squatting – and felt something scratch the back of his neck (hesitantly). The puppy had a feeling that it was that male he was rubbing himself against-

He felt fingers underneath him as the male picked him up and moved him away. "Just, go on or something," he looked up at the male as he straightened up, "I don't want to face the wrath of your dad or anything." The dark purple haired male slowly began to move away, his hands held up and tried to wave away the puppy. "So just, go away or something, alright?" He turned around and picked up the practice stick he had placed down and began to walk away.

Repede tilted his head a little, stood up and began to follow the male.

He heard the male let out a noise and looked over his shoulder, down at him. The puppy stopped – along with the male – and sat down, wagging his tail a little. His gray eyes stared down at him as his own green-blue eyes stared back at him. The dark haired male started to take a few steps and stopped, the puppy doing the same. He repeated the action, as does Repede. Then the dark haired male turned and began to run, the puppy not far behind.

Repede honestly didn't know how long they have been running around the courtyard – the puppy had a distinct feeling that 'Yuri' wanted to get away from him – before the dark haired male decided to jump at a tree and climbed up to the first branch that's far from the ground. The puppy pawed the tree, whining a little as he looked up at the male – darn it, now he couldn't get to him!

Apparently, Yuri seems to know that, staying where he's at. "Dammit, would you just leave me alone already? !" He shouted down at the pup, "I don't want you around me you freaking dog! For the last time, go away-!"

"Um…"

Repede turned to the source, seeing the yellow haired male along with the twins, staring at them in bewilderment. "What were you doing?" the blonde asked slowly, blinking.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" The dark purple haired male asked rhetorically, "I've been trying to get away from this thing."

"Why?" The second twin, Chastel, asked, "What did Repede ever do to you?"

"He's being a nuisance is what," he replied, and Repede perked up when he heard something cracking. He looked up at the branch 'Yuri' was sitting on, said thing looking a little bent every second. The small puppy merely moved away as the dark haired male continued, "He wouldn't leave me alone and chased me around for some reason! I just wanted to train in peace-!"

The branch snapped and 'Yuri' yelped as he fell to the ground, and Repede couldn't help but wince at the ungraceful landing. The puppy looked over him as he groaned a little, pushing himself up and rubbed the back of his head and he approached the male without hesitance, and licked his face to try to comfort him.

He briefly heard the other twin, Hisca, let out, "-strange, Repede never liked strangers," even though Yuri tried to push him away…

_Now…_

After that day, Yuri was put in charge of taking care of him, since he liked the dark purple haired male. Although Yuri wanted to keep him away, there are times where the dark haired male allowed him to be near him.

But…several months later, a month, and a day after a strange incident with Aer getting too concentrated around the forest, and Master had to go away for a day with Chastel while Yuri was put in charge of himself and father while Flynn was gone for a couple of days…something happened.

One of the members came into the courtyard and yelled to Hisca and Yuri about monsters near the town. Before his father left with them, he turned to him, looked at him in the eye and said, _"Stay here my son. And if something ever happens to me…please promise me that you'll be strong."_

Repede didn't understand his father's words at the time…but later that night, when everyone else came back, but not the other dogs, his father and Yuri…the dark haired male returned. Only…he was covered in blood- on his hair, outfit, his face…and after hearing him opening the gate, he had a blank look in his eyes, as he stared at the blood stained sword in his hand. He didn't understand why he stared at the sword, nor did he understand why he threw it down in anger…or even understand why he looked…so sad.

But Repede greeted him all the same, running around him once, sniffed his sword – the scents smelled…familiar – then sat a couple of feet away, waiting for his father and the other dogs to arrive. And yet, no matter how much he looked around, to see if they weren't far behind…they didn't come. As he waited…he heard Yuri approaching him from behind and gently picked him up, making him drop the spoon he had obtained on the night Yuri had a fight with those guildsmen and…gently hugged him.

"Oh Repede… I-I'm so sorry. Your dad, I…" He blinked, hearing the dark haired male choking a little. The puppy felt something land on his snout and Yuri held him closer, as he said, "I killed your father! I'm sorry…!"

The puppy looked up at him in shock, as more tears ran down his cheeks uncontrollably, and he…just cried. Repede had never seen him cry before.

…And is what Yuri said…true? Yes, he smelt his father and the other dogs on him…and on the sword. But why? Why is he crying?

Then it hit him.

Yuri…something happened, and he was forced to do this- made him feel like this. Repede felt…that Yuri was sincere in his apology…

So the puppy licked his cheek, licking away the tears, to tell him that he forgave the male…and that he understands why. That only made the male held him closer, even as the rain fell around them and on them.

Later that night, Yuri had asked Master – who had just returned – if he could sleep in his room, if only for the night; and saw a small music box playing a particular song he had never heard of. The next morning, the puppy felt that Yuri wasn't feeling well, and quickly went to look for help, finding Flynn (who had just returned himself) and took care of him for a while. The day after, the whole group and Yuri (the puppy still felt that he was still sick) were gone for the entire day and didn't return until night…without Master. Master had died, saving Chastel – and in the following day, after Master's funeral…Yuri fell into a coma, after killing the man responsible for the sadness everyone is feeling.

The coma lasted for nearly six days. He and Flynn never left his side the entire time, not even leaving to eat in order to sustain themselves. On the sixth day, Yuri woke up and told everyone that he was quitting the knights…and is taking Repede with him. He wanted to keep the promise of taking care of the puppy for his father and Master, since – in a way – he was in charge of making sure that nothing happened to the puppy. Yurgis gave the puppy Master's pipe, as a keepsake as Yuri kept Master's Bodhi Blastia. The following day, the two of them left the town and lived in Zaphias.

As he lived with Yuri, he had learned more about him than anyone else – and he and Yuri understood each other, as if Repede was human himself. He, too, also wanted to fulfill a promise he made to his father by trying to get stronger. And when he lost his eye and was badly wounded, Yuri had never left his side until the dog made a full recovery. Although Yuri is still uneasy around other dogs, he and Yuri had been together.

Repede is truly grateful to be around Yuri – even if trouble seemed to find the dark haired male no matter where they are – and met the many people as they traveled around Terca Lumireis with Estelle, followed by Karol, then Rita, the Old Man, and Judith. They all faced tough times, but they all endured.

But…after they found themselves in the illusion Yormgen, for some reason Yuri…felt different. As if his scent was changing. But it's still the same, in a way. Yet he continued to feel that way, even after the whole fiasco with Cumore, Belius, the Don, Judith and Estelle's kidnapping, and the struggle to get back to her, to have her back on their side… And his scent is now completely different, the day they all left for Zaude.

Repede knew that something was wrong with Yuri, but, as usual, the dark haired male kept it to himself. He wanted to ask him what was wrong, and decided to do so after they stopped Alexei. Yet the dog never imagined that a strange man clad in white would appear and apparently attacked Yuri, and all of them had gotten separated on this strange new world.

The dog opened his single eye and sighed a little. At times, even the dog can get frustrated that Yuri keeps bottling up his feelings. If he keeps it up, it'll eventually come crashing down on him…

They both knew that he isn't invincible…but, to protect the things that matter, sometimes, it's easier to think that you are. And Yuri has always been a protector – to the weak, to the defenseless – but…for once, he should have protected himself.

That was the reason he went back to Halure to get the others, when they were trying to get back to Zaphias on their own. They always have their friends to count on. The world may be cruel at times…

But, the dog thought as his eye slipped close and lied his head down, sometimes, there are also wonderful things in life.

No matter what, Repede will always remain grateful to Yuri…for being there for him, even when his father and Master are not.

Always.

* * *

**Yeah…some of these things are somewhat my version of certain parts of the Tales of Vesperia movie. And listening to a certain song made some of them more heart-wrenching… DAMN YOU LILIUM! DAMN YOU TO HELL! ! ! ! *runs off to bawl her eyes out***

***the room was silent for a few moments until a mysterious figure walked in***

**? ? ?: "Oh, hello. I'm sorry to say that the other members of both franchises are unable to attend today. They're rather…preoccupied right now."**

***in the other room, the main characters of Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Symphonia were playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl – Yuri as Lucario, Flynn as Link, Lloyd as Ike, and Genis as Lucas; the first three are losing horribly against the young half-elf (with Yuri cursing every now and again) as the others watched.***

**? ? ?: "Anyways, the authoress hoped that you've at least enjoyed this chapter. If not, then I believe that the authoress can handle the criticisms; she wanted you to at least review."**

***from the other room* Hey! Who's there? !**

**? ? ?: "Oops. Gotta go!" *disappears***

***runs in and looks around* I could've sworn I heard someone in here…I hope one of my new OCs in this story didn't pop up in here… *looks back at the reader* Anyways, please leave a review. Any flames I get…I'll improvise on how to use them. *grins* Look forward to the next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 14

…There are new players appearing in this chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it. *goes to listen to Twister – Kingdom Mix*

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"Well, here we are…" Yuri looked up at the dark forest before them. He couldn't help but feel the creeps as he looked over the entrance. If Sheena sounded uneasy when she announced their arrival to this place, he had a feeling that there's a very good reason why.

"Uh…this _is_ where we gotta go to get to Altessa's house…right?" Lloyd pretty much took the words out of his mouth about this place.

"Yup, through the Gaoracchia Forest," Zelos confirmed, "Otherwise known as the 'Forest of Death'."

"Th-The Forest of D-Death? ?" Gene stuttered – a quick glance at him showed that his face had gone completely pale with his blue eyes wide. Rita looked the same as the young half-elf.

The dark haired male looked over at the red haired male, looking a little bored. "Right, the Forest of Death… I get it," he said the last part with a dismissive tone and started to walk into the forest-

"W-Wait a second!" He felt something grab the back of his vest to drag him back – looking over his shoulder, he saw that it was Gene and Rita who were responsible; and it was Rita who had spoken. "You can't just go in there like that!"

"Well, it's the only way we have to go to get to Altessa's place," Yuri pointed out, "And besides, those Papal Knights is probably right behind us; so what other choice do we have?"

"…I'm afraid that Yuri might be right about this," Raine reluctantly agreed, "We'll have to quickly get through here, before the knights catch up to us."

"I gotta say, though," Sheena piped up (after Rita groaned, releasing Yuri's shirt), "The knights are persistent. It was a good thing that Aster and Richter helped us get to Kate."

Yuri absently nodded, but…the two that Rita had met… They could've gotten themselves into trouble doing that. While it _is_ true that they had gotten to Kate to fulfill their promise, but-

Sounds of heavy metal boots against the dirt reached his ears. And, apparently, Colette heard them as well. "I think I hear something…" She let out. "Like…metal boots stomping on the ground…"

"…And that would be our cue to leave," the dark haired male stated as he walked into the forest.

It didn't feel like a few minutes when they noticed that their surroundings became…darker. Even _with_ enhanced vision, it's almost impossible to see in the dark. For a moment, he thought that night had come – but he quickly reminded himself that it's still early afternoon (they _did_ spend the night at the abandoned apartment complex Aster and Richter had shown them; saying that no one lives in them since there were rumors that they were cursed or something (despite Rita's – obvious – protests)) and a quick glance up at the sky showed that the thick canopy of the forest nearly covered the sky.

He briefly wondered why this forest was feared as such today.

"Aw, man," he heard Lloyd complain, "I can barely see in this place."

"I-I'm sorry everyone," Colette apologized, "I can barely see in this place, even with angelic sight." It took all of his willpower to not flinch at the word 'angelic'.

"Huh, I guess this forest even had an effect on angels, too," the red haired Chosen mused. Again, he tried not to flinch at the word 'angel'.

"Oh, great," Rita grumbled, "Now we have to travel blindly through a forest notorious for death."

"Don't worry about it," Sheena assured her, "It's just a story people often used to steer clear of this place."

"Really?" Lloyd let out, "What's the story?"

"Well…" He heard Zelos began – and he could hear the mischievous grin in the words – rather casually, "they say that long ago-"

"_-the Gaoracchia Forest used to be a normal forest," () told him, as they were sitting on the bed. "One day, however, a thief stole a valuable treasure and ran into the Gaoracchia Forest while the knights were pursuing him. He hid the treasure deep in the forest, managing to hide it from sight."_

_His eyes widened in wonder. "What kind of treasure is it, ()?"_

"_It was a jewel, worth several billion Gald," he answered, "Just enough to pay off all of the taxes within the slum area of Meltokio." He became grim. "The thief wanted the jewel for himself, so he slaughtered everyone, and anyone who came looking for it."_

_He covered his mouth in shock. "Wh-What happened after that?" He asked timidly._

_() closed his eyes. "Over time, the forest became stained with blood, transforming it into a cursed place, haunted by the lingering resentment of the people killed there. Even today, when travelers enter the forest, the thief's ghost comes to kill them. And the ones he killed also seek out to increase their numbers…" As he felt his heartbeat go faster, () reached out and stroked his head, like he always does to calm him, "But, don't worry, it's just a story people came up with to avoid that place at all costs."_

_He calmed down, but only a little. "So…what's the real reason…?"_

_() stared at him for a little while, before he sighed. "It's…something that would be best not to talk about. But heed my advice: don't ever wonder the forest…for there is a powerful creature there, which would not hesitate to hurt you, if you were unfortunate to encounter it."_

_He gulped, before nodding vigorously. "O-Okay fa-"_

Screams broke him out of the image(?) and Lloyd, Gene and _even_ Rita ran past him, followed by hysterical laughter from Zelos. He turned back to the others, in time to see Sheena smack the man at the back of his head, said man crying out in pain. "What? What'd I do?" He whined as he held the back of his head, looking pitifully at the livid ninja.

"Idiot Chosen!" She shouted…and he looked over his shoulder to see the three that ran away hiding behind his back, looking over his shoulder/behind his arms.

He felt that it's wise to get out of the way as a certain violent mage beat the crap out of the red haired man – with her sash, book, fists and/or feet – and not get in her path of fire that is her rage. He ignored the screams of pain – and of Lloyd and Colette trying to calm the girl and hearing Raine sigh in exasperation – his mind wondered back to the recent image he received. The dark haired male felt a small headache – maybe it was what Zelos did that distracted him? Hard to tell, really – and he was a bit thankful for that; he didn't want to cause another scene like back at the Crimson Chamber. He rubbed his chin and closed his eyes.

'_That image…I used to sound like that, didn't I? When I was little…'_ he thought, _'In those, it usually flows around 'me' and…a specific person. Most of the time it was with…a man; the same one most of the time.'_ And there was a fact that he had a 'small' encounter with someone who he called 'uncle' back at that base. Does- Does he really have…relatives? No, something- something told him that his 'uncle' isn't his real uncle-

He shook his head, and palmed his temple. _'Dammit,'_ he grumbled mentally, biting his lower lip, _'If I think too much on it, that'll end up giving me a headache; not to mention receiving _more_ questions than answers…'_

Yuri looked back at the others, seeing Raine lecturing both Rita and Zelos (the two of them holding the back of their heads in pain) as the other four watched (Presea is looking forward, as if oblivious to the whole thing). At the moment, he felt that he should shove it to the back of his head until they got to their destination.

…Yet something tells him that something is going to happen; and most likely going to crap on his day. And…

Why couldn't he help but feel this…strange feeling? He's not sure what it is, but…something is _here_; with them. That somewhat unnerved him; but he was able to make out one thing:

It felt…dense – somewhat like the 'Seraphim' and yet…different, at the same time.

He honestly hopes it's just him.

_**~o~**_

From the highest tree she could find, to remain undetected from the group, she watched as they go through the cursed forest. Closing her eyes, she let out some of her energy to feel everything in this forest. Everything.

From the monsters that roam around here.

To the group with her kin.

To the plants, fungi and the animals that live here…

…Along with a group of people, also wondering in this forest. She could hear the metallic footsteps as they headed to where the group might be heading.

She opened her eyes, the sunlight glinting off of her glasses, remembering her orders…

"_Kaneda, I ask you this because of your knack of researching," the leader spoke, "I want you to head to Tethe'alla, and scan our kinsman. He has yet to realize his power, and I wanted to see what his capabilities are."_

_She raised a brow at this, a smile tugging on her lips. "Is this all you want to ask of me?" She asked, her tone flirtatious._

_The leader went silent for a moment. "…You can have a little bit of fun…but don't traumatize him with your…'mischief'."_

_She merely giggled. "I'll be good."_

A small smile stretched across her face. Yes, she promised that she wouldn't 'traumatize' their kinsman…but she supposes that it doesn't hurt to have a little…fun; not with him, but with the people within the forest. Besides, it'll be a little easier to get to him.

With a grin, she brought up a data projector – like the ones the people in Terca Lumireis used, but different – and typed in a few things. "Let's see if they'll be able to dodge the wrath of the forest…" She said softly, before she pressed a hand onto the 'screen'-

A translucent field of data appeared around her as a sphere before it spreads outward, consuming everything in the forest within a certain radius.

_**~o~**_

A great chill went up Yuri's spine, making him shudder and held himself. The others took notice, stopping to look over to him – and a quick glance showed that Lloyd was also affected.

"What's up with you two?" Zelos asked, raising his red brow.

Yuri had to shake his head to clear the cobwebs, letting out a shuddered breath. "A chill just went up my spine," was his answer.

"Really? That's pretty much what I've felt too!" Lloyd exclaimed, sounding shocked.

"That's…kinda weird if you ask me," Sheena commented, not sure how to comment on it properly. Not that he could blame her, as he was also weirded out by this occurrence – and of the fact that Lloyd had…felt that. First the strange 'samples' and now this? What else could go wrong-?

"Huh?" Colette let out, and all eyes turned to the blonde female who looked at the ground with a confused expression. "That's odd…I could hear the ground shaking…"

…Now that she mentioned it, he could also hear the ground shaking. And the sound became a little bit loud now.

"Hey…I can hear it now too," Gene let out as they all looked at the ground. It wasn't long until the dark haired male could _feel_ the earth shake under his feet.

"Wh-What the hell? ?" Sheena exclaimed as the shaking intensified, "There shouldn't be earthquakes around here! This region isn't supposed to have earthquakes at all!" She added as if to elaborate.

The sounds of something cracking open made another chill go up his spine. "…Something tells me it isn't an earthquake…" Yuri muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, wearingly shifting his eyes about-

He felt something grab his ankle before he was yanked into the air with a scream. Something flailed him in the air, and he took a look at the attacker-

"What the hell? ! ?" He screamed out, surprised/shocked. Because, really, since when do tree roots come out of the ground and _attack or grab people? ?_

"Angel Feathers!" He heard Colette exclaim, and he had a case of vertigo as, apparently, the sharp discs the blonde launched sliced off the part that was holding him, and was falling to the ground before Colette caught him. He didn't bother to question how in the hell a sixteen year old girl could carry his weight before they were back onto the ground.

But that was the least of his worries when the loud cracks made all eyes turn to the source, seeing more roots shooting out of the ground, writhing around like tentacles. After what felt like forever, Yuri turned to Lloyd, who did the same.

"Shall we run for our lives?" He asked mockingly.

"Oh yes, let's," the brunette answered. Instantly, the group began to run away from the roots of the trees (some of them are even screaming their heads off in panic). The dark haired man casted a quick look over his shoulder and, to his horror, more roots began to sprout out of the ground and tried to go after the group.

"I don't mean to be bearer of bad news, but the roots are after us!" He shouted over the screams, deciding to focus his sight ahead – he'd rather not trip over something (like an idiot) thank you.

"Yuri, your curse is affecting us!" Rita hollered, pausing her screams for a moment to let out her indignation-

This time, everyone (with the exception of Presea) screamed as the ground under them exploded. Yuri found his second case of vertigo before he landed unceremoniously landed on the ground, followed by another thud near him. His ears picked up wings flapping, and other thuds (yet they seemed…far away). The dark haired man lifted his head – after getting his spinning mind under control – and saw Lloyd struggling to push himself from the ground and Colette tumbling through the air, her wings fluttering double-time trying to keep her afloat (the cheater, he mentally grumbled).

The sound of the earth cracking open again made his adrenaline kick to high gear and he pushed himself up (wincing a little when he felt his head throb), quickly grabbed Lloyd and barked out "C'mon!" to Colette before they took off running (or flew in Colette's case) into the forest.

_**~o~**_

At different parts of the forest, different groups are running for their lives from the rampaging roots.

A half-elven woman, a ninja, and a red haired man in pink were forced to jump over fallen trees and overgrown roots, running further away from where they had been previously.

A female mage, a half-elven boy and a girl lumberjack ran as fast as their legs could, the girl lumberjack cutting down trees in their way with one fatal strike.

A man clad in black clothing carrying a boy in red over his shoulder as a girl in white with pinks wings dodged the trees as the girl launched pink discs at the roots after them.

A group of knights in heavy green/gray armor were doing their best to hold off the roots, but most of the roots had claimed lives, blood staining the dirt as a blue haired convict ran as fast as he could away from the scene.

And, in a certain village, a certain blue and white dog with a pipe in his mouth held his head up, his sensitive ears picking up sounds coming from the Forest of Death. The dog slowly stood up and got into a defensive position, growling a little. His growl got the attention of a blue garbed man.

"What is it Repede?" He asked, jumping down from his watch post. The man is well aware of animals being more sensitive to the changes in nature than humans do; the dog may have well sensed something amiss.

And there's also the fact about the strange earthquake that occurred moments ago. This region never had earthquakes; ever. So what exactly is going on-?

"Sir!" The sentry ninjas puffed into existence before the man and they straightened up. "We have startling news that vice-chief Tiga must hear!"

"What?" The blue garbed man let out, confused/startled by the urgency in the man's voice, "What is it? What is happening?"

"…Roots have just suddenly sprouted from the ground and attacking anything near them!" The other sentry answered.

At that, Orochi didn't know what to say at that. But he quickly ordered the sentries to report to the vice-chief at once. As the two of them left hearing range, the man muttered, "What in the name of the spirits is happening…?"

_**~o~**_

Raine hadn't been exactly known for being the most physically fit person in the group, and yet even Zelos was having a hard time keeping up with the female ninja, running as fast as they could away from rampaging roots chasing after them. Her half-elven ears could still pick up the sound of the earth shattering as more roots came out to chase after them – and she sensed that there are other people here besides them (though they all felt human – to an extent) but, to her horror, most of them in the forest had been snuffed out in a flash. Animals, too, have suffered a similar fate.

And yet, despite her weak physical prowess, she continued to run. A latent instinct to survive (along with adrenaline) kicked into high gear, forcing her to run.

After what felt like forever, when her lungs felt that they were on the verge of exploding, her legs straining to make her body keep going…everything just went…silent.

Puzzled, she slowed herself to a stop and tried to listen in, despite Sheena shouting at her to keep going and panting heavily.

There was nothing. No more roots bursting from the ground; and the earth had stopped shaking. As if it didn't happen.

After several moments of standing there in silence, she turned to the two young adults with her. "Everything has gone silent…" She managed to pant out.

"You sure?" Zelos panted out. When she nodded, he sighed in relief and sank to the ground. "Oh, thank god. For a moment I thought my life was flashing before my eyes."

"Idiot…" She heard Sheena mumble as she looked around once more, to find if the others are around.

"…It seems that all of us had gotten separated, during the chaos," she reported, finding none.

"…Does anyone else find that strange?" The ninja suddenly spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"Huh? What's strange my voluptuous hunny?" The red haired Chosen asked, as they both looked over at her.

The ninja seemed to have ignored him as she continued, "I dunno...the roots suddenly sprouting out from the ground and chasing us, and then just going back down when we're a fair distance away from the others… I can't help but feel that this is deliberate."

At that, Raine bit her lower lip. If what she said is true…yes, it seemed like the only explanation could be is this. But…how is it possible to make the plants go on a rampage like this? There isn't any known creature that could do something like this. And…if someone – or some_thing_ – caused all this, why; what was their reason? What are they after?

Again, the female half-elf is frustrated by what she doesn't know – seriously, it's just one thing after another since the first journey began; and she had a feeling that this second one is going to put in _more_ questions than answers.

No, no Raine; keep your thoughts together. Just…think about what's occurring now, instead of later on in the future. Some things are easier this way.

After rubbing her temples a little, she turned to the ninja. "Sheena, you pretty much know this forest like the back of your hand, correct?"

"Well…technically yes, but only from Mizuho to the capitol city."

Oh well; it's better nothing she supposes. She looked down the path they were going through. "We'll have to keep going through."

"Whoa, what! ?" The red haired man exclaimed, getting up in a flash, "Are you crazy? ? This is the Forest of Death! ! People _die_ in this place! !"

"What other choice do we have?" The Professor shot back, "The others are scattered around in the forest as well, and it's possible that the Pope's men are searching for us as we speak. Our only choice right now is to keep going until we find the others…or until we find some sort of shelter."

"The forest is dangerous at night," the female ninja piped up, "But there are certain areas in this place where we would be safe; areas that most people don't know due to the rumors."

The female half-elf raised a brow. "What rumors?"

The ninja tilted her head a little for a moment, as if thinking. "…Well, the rumor that I heard from a couple of ninjas back home is that there's a strange creature prowling around the forest. A couple of them claimed to have seen this creature."

"…I'm getting a feeling that I _really_ don't want to know what this 'creature' is," Zelos piped up, "For all I know, this thing might molest me or something."

"Yeah," Sheena drawled in sarcasm, "wouldn't that be the day?"

"Ow! Sheenaaaaa!" The red head whined dramatically, "Why are you so mean? ?"

The female half-elf held back a groan, palming her forehead. "Let's just go."

_**~o~**_

"Uuugh… I'm so sick of seeing trees now!"

Frankly, the young half-elf couldn't blame the female mage, sighing tiredly. They've been walking for what seems like a few hours, after running for their lives from the rampaging roots; said roots seemed to have calmed down when they were a fair distance away…only to realize that they had gotten separated from the others.

Like Rita said, not only did it suck, but the three of them are in trouble if they ran into, well, trouble. Even with Presea, there's no way they'll be able to take down the Papal Knights; monsters are one thing, but the knights (especially if there are a lot of them) are another thing entirely. It'll take a lot out of them if they had to fight an endless number of them; and Presea must also have limits…

The silver haired boy looked up to the pinkette they were following. Since Presea had gone through here a few times, she knows her way around the forest better than they do. But as he looked at their surroundings for a moment, he couldn't help but feel that they aren't really going anywhere.

He looked back at the female lumberjack, couple of paces away from the two mages. "Hey, um, Presea?" He asked – this isn't the time to be flirting or something like that; they could still be in danger. "Where exactly are we going?"

She didn't turn to them, nor said anything, but she _did _stop for a moment. He and Rita also stopped and looked over at her, wondering why she just…stopped-

Until he saw the girl reach for the axe strapped to her back. "Enemies inbound." She stated as she pulled it out.

Just as she said that, a bunch of monsters came out of the brush – some of which he had never seen before; especially the one that has a…coffin on its back; the thing with the coffin creeped him out more than anything, to be honest.

Presea had already burst into action, cutting down a tree with…pumpkins growing on its branches after Rita cursed loudly – with a word he was sure that Raine would throttle him if he ever uttered it around her – and shot out Fireballs. That snapped him out of it and he began casting as well (not before using a Magic Lens on a couple of them).

It was arduous at first, since there isn't another melee fighter with them (but Rita kinda improvised with her sash and book), but they managed to take down most of them. There are only three left, so Genis decided to use a new spell at the same time Rita is using her own spell – from the color of the seal under her feet, she's going to use a fire-type magic. He was more focused on channeling the mana – it felt…like a wind-based magic, but stronger than Air Thrust or Air Laser – and barely noticed a strange glow coming from under his feet and around his body.

It was when he was about to unleash his spell – at the same time as Rita's – that something…strange happened.

"**What the hell? !"** Rita shouted out as both of their bodies glowed…and they launched…something.

"_**Flare Tornado! !"**_ They both shouted – and Presea had moved out of the way in time. In response, a tornado made of fire appeared around the last three enemies and they shrieked as the fires within the tornado, literally, burned them to oblivion.

When the…spell…ended, there was nothing but ashes that were once monsters. The silver haired boy stood there, stunned by what he had just witnessed. Up until Rita – who was stunned as well for a few moments – marched up to him and demanded:

"What the _hell_ what **that**? !"

"Um…What's what-?"

"That- That move we just used!" She shouted, "I was about to unleash Flame Dragon on their asses until _that_ happened!"

The half-elven boy stared at her dumbly. "…You've never performed a Compound Tech?" He asked, incredulously.

The red clad brunette raised her brow. "The hell is a Compound Tech?"

It took him a moment to remember that Rita is from another world – they probably don't have Compound Techs over there. The silver haired boy scratched his head a little, trying to figure out how to explain it – and, to be honest, it kinda took him a while to grasp the concept of Compound Techs when they first performed it after they encountered Sheena for the first time. They just…did it, the first time. Kratos didn't explain it well when they did it; it was as if he expected them to figure it out on their own. Angelic prick…

"Well… I'll try to explain it the best I can," he said, "Compound Techs are-"

"Compound Techs, as they were known back then, are unison moves that two people perform with two different 'Artes'," Presea unexpectedly spoke up, prompting the two of them to look at the pinkette, "Almost anyone that are able to use Artes can form a 'Link Arte' – which it was renamed after the World Regeneration succeeded nearly 800 years previously – with another with either Strike Artes, Magic Artes, or both, forming a unique Arte in unison."

The two mages stared at her for a moment after she was finished.

Finally, after an awkward moment, Rita finally spoke up with, "Huh. I wonder why no one came up with that back on our world…" The silver haired boy looked over at the brunette female as she began to rub her chin. "I wonder if our Blastia doesn't have the same capabilities to do such a thing here, or rather, they aren't able to do such a thing with Aer…?"

She mumbled to herself for a while, and the young half-elf looked back over towards the female lumberjack. Said girl just stood there, as if waiting for either of them to make a move. So he decided to repeat the question he had asked her earlier.

The pinkette looked over at him and answered, "The sun is about to set. We will be in total darkness in 35 minutes and 15 seconds if we do not find a safe area. Fortunately, there is one close by, where we would rest for the night and continue on our way."

Genis couldn't help but look over at her, his mouth agape. They've been wondering around the forest for _that_ long? Where in the hell did the time go?

…And, to be frankly honest, the boy would rather not know what lurks around the forest at dark. There are those probably a lot worse than the monsters they had just encountered that might be in the dark.

The boy nodded over to the pinkette lumberjack. "Okay, Presea. Could you lead the way?"

She just nodded once and turned again to continue their route. He called out to the red clad mage – snapping her out of her trance – to follow before they all began their way once again.

…And yet he couldn't help but feel that they were being watched…

_**~o~**_

As soon as they walked out into the open (with Lloyd having to shield his eyes from the suddenly bright sunlight), Colette landed before them. "Here we are!" She exclaimed cheerfully, stretching her arm out as if to show them something.

Lloyd let out a sigh he had been holding in for a while. "Thank god," he said, before tenderly rubbing his chest from where he had landed harshly on the ground – he was thankful that he didn't land on something hard (like a rock or one of those roots) since the Professor told him that landing on something wrong could hurt him pretty badly; and since the Professor (the only healer of the group) isn't with them, he would've been in trouble. "I'm just glad that we didn't face any monsters on our way here."

"Maybe this place repels them somehow?" Yuri suggested as they walked near a tree and placed the brunette down.

"Well…it could be," the brunette let out, taking a glance around them. Everything looked more…green around them compared to the forest they had come out of; peaceful looking, too.

He heard something plop down next to him – seeing that it was Yuri when he looked, the said man lying back onto the grass under them, and sighing/moaning, as if relieved. The red clad male didn't blame him, since he and Colette were the only ones who had to fight off the monsters after they ran away, and not to mention that Yuri roughly carrying him like that didn't do much for his sore chest. After a few hours of wondering aimlessly, Yuri finally asked Colette to try to get above the canopy to see if there's anywhere that they could sleep for tonight – adding that he'd rather not sleep in a tree, thank you very much. They were extremely lucky that Colette had found this area thirty minutes ago; and Lloyd half expected this place to be crawling with monsters. He was thankful for being wrong (for once).

Hearing another person sitting down on his left, he didn't have to look to see that it was Colette. After a few minutes, she said in a worried tone, "I hope the others are alright…"

"Hey, don't worry;" he turned to the dark haired male as he waved his arm a little, "The others are tough – they'll be able to take care of themselves." He heard Yuri muttering to himself but couldn't hear what he was saying. Lloyd figured that it was nothing important-

A rather loud growl got their attention, and they looked over at Colette, with a rather red blush on her cheeks. "O-Oh! I'm sorry; I didn't realize how hungry I am."

He heard Yuri sighing before he stood up. "Alright, alright, we better set up camp for now," he spoke up as they looked up at him, "I'll go ahead and get some firewood. Colette, do you think you'll be able to find some water around here?"

Lloyd turned to the blonde who smiled and nodded. "Okay! I'll do my best!"

At that time, Lloyd was _real_ thankful for the extra Wingpack they had gotten from Zelos – who told them that his butler and servants had placed in several necessities within them just in case something happens; like right now – as Yuri pulled out one he was carrying (given to him by Raine after she forced the red haired Chosen to split the three of them up) and handed a bucket to the blonde Chosen. "Try not to take too long, okay?"

"Okay!" She nodded as she took the bucket, pulled out her wings and flew off to find a river.

When they were unable to see the pinkish-fuchsia that was her wings, Lloyd couldn't help but say, "I hope nothing bad will happen to her…"

…he could've sworn he heard Yuri mumbled, "I know how you feel…"

Lloyd looked over at him, confused. "What?"

But Yuri shook his head. "It's nothing." He handed the Wingpack to the red clade male and walked towards the forest. "Be back in a bit."

A couple of minutes later, after Colette had returned with a bucket full of water and Yuri with a bunch of branches and pieces of wood under his arms, the three of them sat around the campfire – with a small hole dug in and a few stones around the fire pit to make sure that the fire doesn't escape – with Yuri busying himself with something a bit away from them.

"You don't have to make us food Yuri," Lloyd told him, after seeing what the man was doing – it looked like he was turning rice into a couple of small balls and some seaweed on the bottom, "I could've cooked for us, you know."

"It's no big deal," he told him, placing down a ball to make another, "I didn't have a chance to cook since your teacher doesn't trust me, not that I blame her."

Lloyd was looking over at him in shock. "…She still doesn't trust you?"

Yuri just shrugged. "I don't force people to trust me if they don't want to," he said, "If she doesn't want to trust me, then that's fine."

After that, Lloyd was left to his thoughts, deciding to leave Yuri alone for a while. The Professor…still doesn't trust Yuri, after the whole thing at the bridge…? Well, yeah, after what happened with Kratos and everything (since, literally, who can you trust anywhere?) but…for some odd reason, he trusts Yuri immensely. He doesn't know why, but there was something about him that made the young man able to trust him. Sure, the others are a bit wary of him – with the exception of Colette of course. Heck, she even trusted Sheena even though she tried to kill her previously – but…

Augh, he mentally thought as he rubbed his head a little, if he thinks too much, it'll make his brain hurt.

And, although Yuri has wings – and he seemed really distraught when Kratos told him that he (might) not be fully human – Lloyd still trusts him. What the hell is up with that-?

"Alright, dinner's on!" He was snapped out of his thoughts when Yuri called out, holding up a plate with a bunch of rice balls. "C'mon and have some rice balls."

Colette was the first to take one and bite into it. After chewing it, her face lit up in surprise. "Oh wow! This is really good, Yuri!"

The young man blinked his russet eyes. "Really?" He was about to reach for a ball as well-

"Take your gloves off," Yuri spoke up, "It's so that the rice won't stick to your gloves."

The brunette looked over at him in surprise (with Yuri eating his own rice ball) and back at the other rice balls. He decided to head Yuri's advice and took off his gloves, biting into his own rice ball as well.

"Hey! You're right, Colette; it really is good!" It wasn't long until Lloyd decided to snag another one and tried to scarf the two balls down.

"Hey, leave some for the rest of us!" He heard Yuri scold him, but at the moment, Lloyd didn't care; even when he heard Colette giggling a little

Hearing that genuine giggle (and not one of her fake ones when she was lying), the boy felt at complete ease.

…And yet, he couldn't help but thought as he went to sleep (with Yuri on night watch), why couldn't he shake off this unease within the pit of his stomach?

The next morning, Lloyd woke up. His body felt sore (though his chest felt fine, though he felt a small throb), and he felt a bit groggy. He couldn't remember his dream, but he somewhat remembered it – that he has white horns growing from the sides of his skull and uses invisible arms to kill people - mainly Desians - but... he seemed a bit...vicious. He slowly pushed himself from the ground and rubbed his eyes a little to get the sand out before looking around. The fire seemed to have died out while he was asleep, and he could hear a bunch of birds chirping, as if greeting the morning or each other…though he couldn't help but feel that it's still kind of early.

"Morning Lloyd," he turned to Colette, as the blonde was sitting on the rock, "How well did you slept?"

He let out a rather loud and long yawn before answering, "Hm…decent I guess. My chest kinda throbs though, but I think I'll be able to live through it."

"…I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, alright?" He told her, "The roots and all of that crap just happened out of nowhere. So don't go saying that it's your fault, okay?" He looked around a bit, trying to find their third 'member'. "By the way, where's Yuri?"

"He went to scout out earlier to see if the coast is clear," she answered as she stood up from her 'seat' and walked over to him, "He also said to stay here until he gets back." She added as she offered her hand to him.

He groaned a little after he was standing on his feet. "But we have to get moving!" He insisted, "What if the Papal Knights are still out there and looking for us? He'll be out-numbered if that happens! And we still have to find the others as well!"

"W-Well, yes, but-" Colette suddenly cut herself off, and looked in another direction, her eyes wide.

"…What is it?" He let out after a few moments, unnerved by that look.

At first, she didn't answer, still looking in that direction. Then:

"I-I just heard Yuri! He sounded as if he was trouble!"

At that, Lloyd's blood ran cold. But his body automatically moved as he went to fetch his swords off the ground. "Colette, do you think you'll be able to lead us towards the source? ?"

"I can try!" He didn't have to look at her to see that she had nodded in determination.

He nodded back to her and the two teens took off to where the blonde had heard Yuri. As they did, the young man thought:

'_Please be okay Yuri…'_

* * *

…**Okay, I decided to end this chapter here.**

**Here's the low-down: Hurricane Sandy brushed by us but we're out of power, for like, oh I dunno, TUESDAY! It's already Thursday and we still haven't got any power; and I meant to put this up on Halloween, but…I wanted to conserve energy onto my laptop. So…yeah.**

**Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit boring, barely any action…but, hopefully, there would be action in the next chapter. I just wanted to get the Compound Tech/Link Artes thing out of the way. **

**Again, I'd like to thank my faithful readers for reviewing and reading my story – you guys are awesome! (And the idea of Rita and Genis using a Compound Tech/Link Arte is courtesy of Vesperian-Ivia-Elemental; and a couple more ideas from others – you know who you are)**

**Please leave a review, and I hope you guys will look forward to the next chapter! ^w^**


	17. Chapter 15

Alright…the real fun begins. I hope; or at least, I think so. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.**

* * *

_A gentle hymn – one that sounded so familiar – was playing as he looked around a bit. The…things walking around him seemed a little like…people, but they were blurry. He didn't pay any attention to them, merely looking around-_

_He saw something that stood out from the rest. He…couldn't make it out, but he _did_ make out that this person is wearing…white. And…is that a blur of pink around the head?_

_He tilted his head a little and walked over to the white and pink blur, ignoring the other 'blurs'; he could still hear that familiar song in the background. He held something in his hands as he made his way over to the blur – yet something prevented him from looking at what he was holding._

_Finally, he was over to the white and pink blur._

_He tilted his head again. Has…has he seen this white and pink blur before? Something is telling him that he has. He placed the something by his feet as he squatted down to the blur's level. As he did, he could've sworn he heard someone whispering:_

"_Kyrieeee, fons bonitatis, kyrieeee, ignis divine, eleeeiisoon…"_

_He tried to ignore the voice, looking over the blur. _

…_It seemed to be crying._

_For some reason, he felt concerned. Before he could stop himself, he opened his mouth, and said:_

"Hey…what's wrong?"

The sound of his own voice awoke Yuri from his dream. He stared up at the sky blearily, feeling a bit…groggy. The dark haired man blinked sleepily before he began to sluggishly push himself off the ground, yawning loudly before he rubbed his eyes. The dark clad swordsman looked around for a moment, still feeling a bit sleepy. Memories of what happened yesterday flooded back to his mind, and feeling a bit more awake, he looked around more sharply. Everything seemed…peaceful; it doesn't seem that there are any monsters that had wondered here. Maybe this place _does_ repel monsters, like he originally thought…

Somewhat like those camping materials that they had used to camp out every once in a while – they have a certain…stench that monsters don't like. Maybe this place here also has a stench they don't like as well, he thought, looking over at the red clad brunette and white clad blonde-

He paused a little at them. A small smile worked its way, looking over the girl lying onto Lloyd, her arms wrapped around him as her head rested on his chest. And Lloyd's arm seemed to be wrapped around her waist.

They must've gotten close to each other in their sleep, he mused, shaking his head a little before he decided to stand up to do his 'business'. Merely doing a couple of morning exercises – something he'd often do with and without a Blastia, practicing his sword (more fun with a sparring partner, though) stretching his wings – those sorts of things really, besides going to the bathroom.

…But why does his chest feel funny when he looked over at those two? It was like a small…twinge, inside his chest.

He tried not to think too hard about it, doing his morning routine.

By the time he was done, the forest around them started to come to life, as if undisturbed by what had happened yesterday. As he sat down onto a rock, resting himself, he looked over the surrounding area again. Everything is too calm…too peaceful.

…It's boring as hell.

And he hates being bored. And, whenever he was bored, something bad usually happens – and knowing his awful luck, it almost happens instantly.

Plus, around times like this, he broods. At times, it's also a bad thing; but, for once, he allowed himself to think – on the images he was having since landing in Tethe'alla (including the one he had yesterday), and the dream he just had.

The images…for once, he was having a hard time piecing them together; normally, he'd be able to guess what is what if he had enough clues – but not now. They seemed to be…scattered; he couldn't tell when they took place and they just pop up when he least expected it. And they all seemed…focused on him and, usually, an individual. Most of the time, it was always around a man – but he was unable to hear the man's voice, rendering him unable to identify this person; the only thing that allowed him to know the person was talking were the words appearing in his head. Strangely, however, he was able to hear his own voice after that dream he had…on the night Lloyd found out about his wings.

Not only that…what was up with that dream he just had? Like the previous one, something nagged at the back of his head that he had been through something like that. And he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen that white and pink blur before; something was telling him that he had seen something like that before…

But the question is…when? That blur looked a little…small – as if the blur is a toddler or something-

"Oh! There you are Yuri!" Having been so deep in his thoughts, the dark haired man couldn't help but jump at the voice and swiftly turned to the source-

He relaxed when he saw Colette's startled look. "Oh, hey Colette," he said, as if everything is normal, as he pushed himself up to stand. "So, slept well?" He added as he wiped the imaginary dirt off the back of his pants.

"Oh! Yes, I have," the blonde girl said cheerfully – not even realizing that he had just changed the subject on her, "Thank you for asking Yuri."

The dark haired male merely grunted in reply. He looked back at the dark forest surrounding the field they are in. While it is true that they had only arrived here like last night, and they had managed to get away from the rampaging roots…Yuri still isn't sure if it's safe to go out and search for the others. And knowing his rotten luck, doing so would probably end badly…for the three of them, since he doesn't know if Lloyd is injured or not. So he'd rather not take his chances and just wing it (like he pretty much does in some cases).

"Hey Colette," he spoke up after a moment of contemplation. He didn't look to see if Colette had heard him, but continued, "I'm going into the forest to check see if the coast is clear around our area. If Lloyd up wakes when I'm not back, tell him what I told you, alright?"

"Oh, uh, sure Yuri," she responded, though from her tone, she sounded a bit confused.

"And one more thing," he added, looking over at her to show that he's serious, "The two of you stay here until I get back. We're probably not safe yet, but I wanted to be completely sure, alright?"

"Oh, um…okay," the girl nodded.

He nodded once, before collecting his sword and began to patrol the forest around their area. Although patrol is too damn boring – with having to do those constantly back when he was in the knights – for once, Yuri was willing to do so even if it means to protect his charges.

After a while (he honestly have no idea what time went by since the forest's thick canopy made it hard to see if the sun is up or not) the dark haired man was nearly done with his small patrol around their rest area. So far, he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary – but that was also when he was the most unnerved; because there are a lot of things that _are_ out of the ordinary.

For one, the parts of the forest around their area that he had checked – so far – is silent; too silent for his taste. After perhaps thirty minutes (or is it longer?) the birds suddenly went silent. He couldn't hear the sounds of other animals (deer, smaller mammals, and insects) that he was pretty sure lives around here – along with monsters. Yet, what unnerved him is that he could sense them…but he could also feel their fear. Fear of what, exactly?

Is there something else in the forest as well? If so…then is it possible that this being – human, monster or not – is the one responsible for the rampaging roots? That's…unnerving, to say the least; much more unnerving than Zagi seemingly following him around during his journey after their encounter back at Flynn's room, all those months ago. Their second encounter _was_ bit unnerving…but the third and fourth meetings became _really_ annoying, especially since the psychotic man is like a cockroach – you can't kill it no matter how many times you stomp or beat it (unless it's really hard) – or a rat – one that you thought you had gotten rid of until you see its crap decorating _everything_. And if Zagi survived the explosion back at the Heracles, then he's going to consider that man both a cockroach _and_ a rat. To be honest, Yuri honestly hoped that he didn't-

A flash of light under his feet caught his eye, but before he could react, four…rings appeared around him and then bonded his shoulders, arms, and legs together (letting out a startled cry that – unknown to him – Colette had heard) – and, expecting himself to fall to the ground, somehow, the rings made him float a couple of inches above the ground! "Hey! What the hell? !" He shouted, and tried to move his body in an attempt to wiggle free – but the rings kept him bound! Yet he continued to try to struggle out of the trap he found himself in.

"Well, well…" An unfamiliar female voice spoke up – it sounded sultry, but also a bit refined – making him stop what he was doing, as she added, "It seems I've finally caught our little wolf." If he could, he would've turned his head towards the source, to see who was it that spoke – but it's kinda hard considering his limited movement-

"Whoa!" He let out when he was suddenly turned around (he didn't even feel a person touching him – since touching a person is required to do so) and came face to face with the intruder.

…And why are most of his attackers women? He thought, looking over this strange woman. Her cerulean hair (with some fringe in her face, yet didn't cover her amber colored eyes, which were framed by frameless glasses) seemed to go to the middle of her back, but he noticed a rather large strand of it sticking out the back of her head, and half of it is colored…teal? It looked like teal. She also wore a silver coat, a single button keeping it together as the collar is shot out (is she a scientist or something?), but he managed to make out a blue high collared suit of sorts under the coat and…a rather large diamond cut on her chest, exposing her…um, breasts (is it just him or do they seem bigger than Judy's?), dark gray gloves, a…skirt of sorts he could see, in the same color as the gloves, black leggings and black and gray boots of sorts (high-heeled).

Yet what put him on edge is the amount of Mana _billowing_ from her; not only that but it was…thick, yet soft, creamy…like the Seraphim but…different at the same time. Just who – and what – the hell is she?

"Wh-Who the hell are you?" What the hell? Why did he stutter like that? He-He has no idea why, but…some part of him seemed…spooked about this woman. Like…like it was as if she's a lot older than she looks and- huh? What was-?

The woman suddenly pressed her finger to his lips and…grinned. "Now, now, little wolf," she said, moving her finger to wag it a little, "Where would the fun be if I just told you? But don't worry; you'll find out in time…"

The dark haired man stared at her, and he was pretty sure his expression said "What the fuck?" but she either ignored it or didn't notice as she-

"H-Hey! What are you-? !"

What the hell? ! Why is this woman running her fingers over his body? Oh god, this feels so wrong-!

"Hmm…fair physical strength…" His ears caught the woman murmuring under her breath as she ran her hands over parts of his body…or, more specifically, his muscles (his pectorals, abs, biceps, thighs and calves) then she grabbed his left arm and turned it so she could see the underside, running her index and middle finger across his veins. "Yet his magical essence is pretty low, as if he hadn't used it in quite a while…"

"…What?" He let out, confused by what she said. The hell is she talking about? He had _never_ used magic before in his life- …Has he-?

The woman casually walked behind him, and he tried to look over his shoulder to keep his eye on her. What the hell is she doing now-?

"…!" He let out when she ran her fingers around a particular spot – the same spot that Kratos had nailed him at a couple of days ago – and his body shuddered as his wings just…slid out; in a weird, tingly way.

"Ah…here we are," she said, as if she didn't notice. She ran her fingers over one part of his wings (it's _still_ freaky when a person does that – it makes him fell…weird, after Flynn – and later Lloyd – ran his fingers on them), seemingly marveling them. "A nice blue shade with a purple tint…like the sky is beginning to light up at dawn. And not only that, the top and bottom of the wings are like that of a wolf's fang; understandable considering his mother's maiden name."

Wait, what? Before he could ask this woman if she somehow knew his mother, she added, "And yet parts of the wings are a bit small and thin…could it be that he could fly faster than us, _and_ Cruxis angels…?"

'Us'? Wait; there are other people like _her_? And why did he detect a bit of venom when she said 'Cruxis'?

She's not a member of Cruxis? But the Mana he felt billowing out of her…something doesn't add up.

Unfortunately, she seemed preoccupied in her own thoughts, for him to ask any questions. After half-heartedly putting way his wings, he begins to try.

"Hey, listen here lady," he didn't care if he was being rude – this woman captured him and all of that crap, "I have no idea what's up or anything, but who exactly do you work for? It doesn't seem like you're a part of Cruxis or anything-"

He didn't get the chance to finish when he suddenly found the edge of a book's – where in the hell did she pull that out from? He didn't even see where she kept it – spine under his chin, making it tilt up to expose his neck. However, he was a bit more unnerved to see the cold look within her eyes, as she glared up at him.

"You are right to say that I do 'work' for someone," she said, her tone neutral, "But Cruxis – or anyone that has a Cruxis Crystal on them – is our enemy. I am not saying that you or our other kinsman should hate your fathers-" What? "-but some of those 'angels' are corrupted, like the unfortunate one that was killed in that damnable tower by the people he had, what's the word, 'pissed off'. And that corruption can, in a sense, spread, if the one with the dominant 'angelic' gene is stronger."

"In a way," she continued, pressing the book horizontally against his neck now – and he could've sworn that he felt some powerful energy coming from that book, "I should kill you, since your father is one of the three strongest 'angels' in existence. None of us wanted to risk you to become corrupt, if you are as powerful as I believe you to be."

What the hell is this woman talking about? His father is an angel? One of the three strongest? And what the hell does she mean about him becoming corrupted? But is she serious about killing him? ? With him bound like this, it's more than likely that he's completely screwed over-

He felt an energy of a sort near him and the woman sharply looked to the right-

A blue energy ball of sorts collided with an energy shield and the woman seemed to be blown away by the explosion. The rings bounding him faded away as if in response, and Yuri barely managed to land gracefully on the ground. After he stood up straight, the dark haired male looked around. Where in the hell did that blast come from? He knew it couldn't have come from Lloyd or Colette; Yuri didn't think they're capable of doing something like that. So who-?

Yuri barely saw a blue blur jumping out of the tree and the woman – who the dark haired male had noticed dispelling the barrier – seemingly jumped away as the blur made a small crater at where she was-

"You? !" He exclaimed, as a familiar blue haired convict straightened up, shocked. "What the hell are you doing here? !"

The man only glanced at him with his blue eyes. "I'm afraid our 'conversation' is irrelevant since the enemy is with us at the moment."

Yuri's eyes shifted over to the cerulean haired woman as she…floated slowly to the ground-

…Are his eyes deceiving him or…or did he _really_ see a very translucent – or a shadow? He couldn't tell really – shape of wings…but they were more bird-like than his, Colette's and the Seraphim. But when he blinked, they were gone in an instant.

Was it his imagination then-?

"My, my…" The dark haired man decided to push the anomaly towards the back of his head as he looked back at the woman, tapping the spine of her book a little against her lips. "It seems fate isn't in my favor right now…"

The blue haired convict looked back over at the woman. "Who exactly are you, by chance? You do not seem to be a researcher from Sybak."

The woman hummed a bit, even as Yuri looked over the convict with a raised brow. "Yes, you _could_ say that I am a researcher," she answered, prompting the dark clad male to look back at her, "But I don't believe its fun to tell people my name." She added with a small grin.

"_Fun_?" Yuri exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you? You think toying around with lives is _fun_? !"

"Oh, it seems I've made the little wolf bristle," the grin is still there as shifted her weight onto the other foot, "And over something like human lives. That's good."

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this woman? He thought, gritting his teeth as he held in his anger. Why is she treating this like a _joke_-?

The last part she said registered in his brain, making him jerk a little. What? What's good? She thinks that him getting mad about human lives is…good? Not only that, he isn't sure what sort of emotion she was using when she said that; her face is neutral, like Judy's – the only other person he couldn't figure out at times even after they met in Ghasfarost, even after all they've been through – and she hid her emotions pretty well.

A rustle in the bushes got their attention and – from what he was able to identify thanks to carrying around some Magic Lens (since Karol was obsessed with completing his monster's book) – an Undertaker emerged. Those things _still_ creeped him out to no end – especially with what's in those caskets…

"Ah, an Undertaker," he heard the woman let out, as if fascinated by what she saw, "A Dark element monster. Well…I hate to do this to the underling of the Centurion of Darkness, but I'm going to let you have some fun with this one," a data panel – somewhat like Rita uses, but…it looked different somehow – appeared and she typed a few things in before pressing her hand onto it-

"What the-? !" The dark haired man let out as a strange sphere appeared around the monster – said thing looking around it in confusion – before it closed in on it-

The monster suddenly let out a, rather, disturbing shriek as it fell to the ground and…oh god, what's _happening _to it? ?

He couldn't take his eyes off of the Undertaker as its body twisted and mutated into something larger. The small thing looked a lot more…monstrous as it grew long arms and legs, its fingernails becoming claws and the hooded cloak it wore could barely fit the creature as it grew in size, along with the casket. Tentacles and clawed arms burst from the said casket, and gleaming red eyes are shown from the creature's face covered in darkness before it let out a roar-

A vivid yet unclear image of something large, with a gleaming, single red eye appeared in his mind, an unearthly roar echoing along with the monster's roar-

Yuri felt his eyes widen as he took in a sharp breath, and held a hand over his chest, feeling (and hearing) his heart pounding furiously as he took a step back.

Wh-What the hell? He thought, panting to try to calm his heart. What- What the hell was _that_? ! It was- That monster- What in the hell is that thing-? It wasn't like anything he had ever seen, and-!

He felt himself being jerked back by the back of his vest, just as the changed monster slammed its hand over where he was. The shock of it jerked him back to reality, and stared at the spot where he once was as the monster lifted its hand.

"You should be more careful," he heard the blue haired man tell him – registering him as the one who pulled him back – and stood next to him. "Otherwise, you would've been a rather bloody mess now."

Of course, that made Yuri a little irritated. "You think I don't know that?" He said as he drew his katana and got into a stance, along with the man.

"Well," oh, he nearly forgot that the woman is still there, shifting his eyes over to the woman, "I guess I'll let the two of you have fun with it. Ta ta!" She waved before she let out a giggle and – once more seeing the 'shadow wings' – 'leaped' high into the air.

The dark haired man could barely let out a "Hey!" when she took off, but he had to dodge a swipe from the grotesque monster along with the blue haired convict. As the two of them straighten up, about to face off against the monster, he let out:

"Aw, crap."

_**~o~**_

Lloyd honestly has no idea how long they've been running (or flying in Colette's case) as they tried to locate Yuri. But so far, they seemed unsuccessful. It seemed that no matter which way they went, the trees around them looked the same. The young brunette had to stop and look around his surroundings, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Dammit, where could he be? ?" He growled under his breath. The teenage boy put the belts around his waist, leaving his hands free to cup them around his mouth to holler:

"YURI! ! ! YURI! ! ! !"

The sound of his voice echoing through the forest mocked him, prompting the boy to let out a sigh of frustration. He looked over at the blonde Chosen, just as she landed.

"Colette, are you still able to hear Yuri at all?"

The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry Lloyd," she said, "but…all I could hear now is that strange…noise"

He blinked. "Strange how?"

"I-I don't know," she bowed her head as she clasped her hands, "It sounds like a strange…buzzing sound. And not only that," she looked around in concern, "it's so…quiet here…"

Lloyd once again blinked and looked around the forest again, calming down. Yeah…now that Colette mentioned it, it's quiet; TOO quiet, in fact. How come he didn't _notice_? He decided to berate himself for this later, cautiously shifting his eyes around. Where are the birds and animals, and the monsters? It…feels unnerving to hear total silence, besides the wind rustling the leaves above them. Something doesn't make since – he had never heard a forest suddenly go silent before. Not only that…he felt something. It- He had no idea what to make of it. He felt it – something like cold hands of something gripping your heart-

Fear.

He felt- They're all- All of the animals and monsters are afraid. He could- he could feel their fear. What the hell? ! What are they afraid of? He doesn't understand; what is-?

A familiar chill went up his spine and he looked in a direction.

What? It was…it was similar to the one he felt yesterday, and-

"What the-? !" A familiar voice made the brunette jerk. That was- That was Yuri! He heard him! And- Something's happening, and-!

His legs were already moving before his brain could process his action, and he could've sworn he heard Colette call out to him.

The trees and everything around him became a blur as he ran where he thought he had heard Yuri. He had never run this fast before in his life…

Something was shouting at him, telling him to get to Yuri; to help his fellow kinsmen-

Wait, what? Yeah, he has to get to Yuri. Yuri is one of his friends – no, they hadn't known each other long; but, again, the brunette trusts him – and he has to help him. He won't leave anyone behind-

"WOAH!" He let out when he quickly stopped – his rationality returning – as a large hand slammed where Lloyd could've been if he had kept running. But what could-?

"What the…" Lloyd let out when he caught sight of…is that an Undertaker? But-But how the hell did it get so _big_ – and demonic looking? What-?

"AZURE EDGE!" Lloyd quickly looked over at the source, seeing Yuri flinging bolts of wind Mana at the monster-

"Wha-? What the hell? !" The brunette let out in shock, seeing the blue haired man – that attacked them back at the sewers a few days before – fighting the Undertaker with Yuri.

He heard the two men unleashing their Artes onto the monster – a Destruction Field, a Crushing Eagle, and a Dragon Swarm from Yuri and a Spin Kick, a Crescent Moon and an Eagle Dive from the blue haired convict – but the young brunette could only stare in shock; his brain unable to process what he was seeing. What- What in the hell is going on? The boy wasn't sure if he's dreaming or not – it sure as hell doesn't seem like a dream-

"Lloyd?"

The boy let out a startled yelp, nearly falling over when he heard a voice behind him. His head turned to the source so fast, the person behind him yelped-

It was Colette, the said girl falling on her behind; the boy couldn't help but look at her dumbly.

It took a moment for the boy to regain his composure (and his wits). "Uh, C-Colette! Are you okay?"

"O-Oh, yes, I'm okay!" The blonde Chosen said as she made to stand up. The brunette offered his hand and she took it with a small smile-

The brunette blinked. Huh? What was- It-It didn't feel…natural. This feeling, it's-

"Lloyd?" He blinked again at the voice and looked up to Colette's concerned look.

"Oh, sorry," he said as he pulled her up-

He instinctively held onto the girl – who let out a scream – using his body as a shield when something impacted onto the ground near them. After a moment, Lloyd dared to look what had crashed near them-

"Holy-!" He let out, jumping back a bit upon seeing that it was the Super Undertaker (that he had dubbed) that had fallen.

"L-Lloyd! What is that?" Colette let out; her voice laced with (mostly) shock.

"Uh…" Lloyd could only let out as the Super Undertaker slowly pushed itself up-

"Hey!" He jerked (and he noticed Colette doing the same) when he heard Yuri's voice and turned to the dark haired man as he launched another Azure Edge at the monster, "We'd _really_ appreciate it if you could, oh I don't know, help out a bit!"

That got their asses into gear. "Alright," Lloyd drew his blades as he heard Colette take flight.

The battle was a bit hard. The Super Undertaker's arms are long, which means it's nearly impossible to get in close for him, Yuri and that convict to get in close. Although it was no problem to use ranged Artes (for him, Yuri and Colette) at first, the monster quickly wised up and used the tentacles and claws from the coffin to try to get to them. After (trying) to block a few blows from the claws and tentacles, Yuri shouted, "We gotta get rid of that coffin!"

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Lloyd questioned.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," the brunette would've given the dark haired man an incredulous look…if he hadn't been busy trying to dodge the Super Undertaker's attacks.

"He brings a valid point," he heard the convict point out. "Battles could go awry in an instant if you aren't prepared. And an Undertaker's weakness is to the Light element; perhaps the same could be said for its coffin!"

"Oh, okay! I'll take care of it!" Lloyd didn't look to see what Colette was doing, firing a Double Demon Fang against it.

Lloyd managed to get a peek at what the blonde Chosen was doing, having to back up a bit-

She was going to do an Angelic Arte. But he couldn't tell what it is; nor could he hear her.

But he had to make sure that the monster doesn't attack Colette while she's casting her magic. Apparently, that's what Yuri is doing, using an Azure Storm at the Super Undertaker, drawing its attention to himself. Using the time the Super Undertaker is distracted, the red clad swordsman quickly ran towards the monster's back as fast as he could-

He heard something, and-

Lloyd wasn't entirely sure what happened, but he somehow saw the tentacles and the claws coming at him and he dodged them – almost with ease – and managed to slide underneath the monster and slashed at the monster as hard as he could. It managed to stun the monster long enough for-

"Grand Cross!" A circle of light appeared under the Super Undertaker before a beam of light came out of the middle. The monster screamed from the magic, as the light formed into a cross before dissipating.

Followed by a Destruction Field and a Crescent Moon from the two men, and the coffin on the monster's back was destroyed, making it fall over.

…And Lloyd could've sworn he heard something exclaim, _Great!_

He quickly shoved it to the back of his head and pulled out a Magic Lens that he had snagged from the Professor before they had gotten separated. Looking through it, the monster had indeed gotten weaker…but only a few hits left until they could kill it.

And his brain suggested a pretty good idea how to do it. "Colette, think you can do that spell again?" He called out, tossing the now useless item away somewhere.

"Um, okay, but why-"

"We're going to take it down with a Unison Attack!" He answered.

"A _what_?" That was from Yuri.

"Just follow our lead!" Lloyd just told him. He'll be able to see in a minute.

The brunette, preparing to activate the Unison Attack, noticed a strange light appearing under him – and felt a weird sensation like…he was connected to Yuri – but at the moment, he disregarded it as a possible side effect of using the Unison Attack (and maybe a Compound Tech).

But it was when he began the attack that…something odd happened.

"**The hell? !**" Yuri shouted as his and Lloyd's body glowed…then:

"_**Ghost Beast! !**_" The two shouted as Lloyd instantly launched a Hunting Beast – an Arte he was going to use – at the Super Undertaker…then Yuri somehow phased behind it almost instantly and strikes it from behind. Lloyd didn't get the time to stare dumbly at what they did, when Lloyd felt another one – coming from Colette this time – and then:

"_**Grand Beast! !**_" The two teens shouted as Lloyd launched a light induced Hunting Beast onto the enemy, exploding upon hitting the Super Undertaker and the light from it turned into a cross.

Then the convict finishes off the Super Undertaker with a Crescent Moon.

By the time the mutated enemy fell over with a great crash, Lloyd fell back on his ass, panting heavily (along with the others, he managed to hear). Fighting the monster – and using those weird ass Artes earlier – took a lot out of him.

"Man…" he heard Yuri pant out, "It's like fighting a Giganto Monster all over again…"

"Giganto Monster…?" The convict let out, confused.

"Uh…" Yuri let out, as if he was unsure how to answer-

The sound of someone clapping their hands was heard. "My, my," a female voice let out, "that was quite a show you've displayed."

Lloyd immediately turned his head over to the source-

'…_Who the hell is this woman?'_ He thought, seeing an unfamiliar woman…standing there. Where in the hell did she come from-?

Wait. What is- What is that feeling? It- He couldn't describe it well, but he felt something. It was…billowing out from this woman, but what-?

"-ou could've killed us, with the crap you pulled on that Undertaker!" The brunette was snapped out of his trance when he heard the exclamation from Yuri.

"But you have survived, haven't you?" The woman calmly said, a small smile on her face – Lloyd couldn't tell what the woman was thinking. "And besides, I got all the data I needed."

'Data'? What-?

"What sort of data do you mean?" The blue haired man asked, prompting the brunette to look over at him; the blue haired man looking over the cerulean haired female with narrowed eyes. "Surely you aren't saying that the battle is an experiment of sorts."

"You may say that," the woman's reply got the brunette looking back at her. "But, for now, I bid all of you adieu."

The brunette's eyes went wide as parts of the woman's body were covered in…some sort of bluish colored particles, as if they're eating her up. What- What is-

"Oh, and one more thing," the woman spoke up.

And her somewhat cheery look changed into a frown with narrowed eyes – and Lloyd actually flinched away from the sudden glare.

"If you happened to get too powerful…I will not hesitate to destroy you," she said, her tone neutral. "Remember that."

And then she disappeared completely.

Silence flit by them for a few moments. Then Lloyd broke it by asking:

"What the hell was that about?"

"No idea," Yuri replied, but he sounded…distracted. The brunette tried to turn to the man to look at him-

He groaned a little when a familiar throb decided to make itself known; and he instinctively put a hand tenderly on his chest.

"L-Lloyd!" He heard Colette cry out.

Something shifted in front of him – like clothes and dirt – and he heard Yuri ask, "Is it your chest?" The brunette could only make a meek nod. He then heard the man groan to himself. "This is why I told the two of you to stay where you are – I didn't want you to further hurt yourself. But I guess that's my fault too…" He mumbled; Lloyd managed to crack his eyes open to see the dark haired male advert his gaze.

Lloyd grunted a little as he straightened himself up, and managed to say, "Don't worry, it isn't your fault."

"…Perhaps you should lie down," the three turned their heads to the convict – Lloyd had honestly forgotten that he was there.

Though Yuri didn't seem keen on listening to the man, saying, "Yeah, why should we listen to you? For all we know, you might off us when we let our guard down."

"That may be so," the convict said, his voice calm, "But if I wanted to harm you, or to see you die by the hands of the woman or by the monster, I would've let you get killed or killed you by now."

The brunette sneaked a glance over at Yuri – to see the man having on his 'Poker face' – and back at the convict, the two of them locked in a stare off. After a few minutes, the dark haired man huffed a little. "Yeah…you could've killed us too with Lloyd down like this. Alright…" he let out in a mutter, and sent a glare at the blue haired man.

The man nodded back, before he placed his bond hands onto his chest and – Lloyd getting the message quickly (for once) – gently eased the boy onto the dirt. The man gently patted the boy on his chest – making him grunt a little in response – then nodded once before he drew his hands back and-

This time, Lloyd grunted in surprise as he felt a cool sensation – similar to the Professor's Healing Artes – and from the corner of his eyes he could see…some sort of spores floating up from under him. And the boy found himself surprised when he saw the scars the man had gotten from the fight with the Super Undertaker slowly began to heal.

As soon as the light faded, the red clad swordsman found that the throb in his chest is now gone. The boy pushed himself up from the ground and looked over at the blue haired man, to see him panting as his arms dangled between his legs.

For some reason, Lloyd wanted to thank this person…even though he's their enemy-

Wait.

"Why did you do all of that?" He couldn't help but ask, "Weren't you working for the Pope or something?"

"…I am," he said after a couple of moments. "I was sent here, along with the other Papal Knights, so that we could set a trap for your group. However, the roots of the trees had suddenly gone rampant, and killed the knights while I had no choice but to flee."

The three of them gave each other a glance before back at the man, Yuri asking, "What sort of trap is it?"

"I was to intercept your group and distract all of you long enough for the Papal Knights to arrive," the man replied. "However, the plan is now moot at this point."

"But that won't stop you from trying to kill us," Yuri said – and Lloyd couldn't help but hear the similar tone he'd often hear the Professor (and mostly Kratos) use. "…Unless there's a reason why you decided to help us out."

The man looked over at the dark haired male, Lloyd included, as he replied, "I'm simply neglecting my orders to attack – I merely wanted to speak with the girl with you. The one named Presea."

"Why do you want to talk to Presea?" Colette asked, sounding confused – much like what he felt. Why would this man want to talk to her? "Is she related to you or something?"

The man looked over at the blonde Chosen before…he looked away. "No… She reminds me of someone I used to know. That's all."

The three of them gave each other a glance once more. Then he and Yuri looked back at him. "Yeah…about that, I don't think she'll be able to talk to you."

"What…?" The man let out, looking at them looking and sounding startled.

"The only reason why we're going through here is so that we could take Presea to a dwarf named Altessa," Yuri explained, "We're kinda hoping that he'll be able to fix her up from the Exsphere implanted on her."

The man made a strange noise, prompting the brunette to look back at him, seeing the man gritting his teeth. "So…she's yet another victim to the accursed stones…"

"…?" Lloyd let out when he heard the man mutter that. 'Another victim'? What does he mean? Has he known someone else that is an Exsphere subject or something? Something told the brunette that there's probably more to this man than meets the eye…

Or maybe it was just him.

"Anyway…" Lloyd began, as he pushed himself to stand, "Who the hell is that woman? And about those things she said: like killing us if we got too strong or something?" Or maybe one of them – and Lloyd had a good feeling who the woman was referring to after remembering his conversation with Kratos a few nights ago after he saw Yuri's secret.

"Well, I guess it's safe to say that she's the one who caused the roots to go crazy," Yuri told the two teens.

"REALLY? !" Lloyd exclaimed as he looked over at the dark haired man in shock. "But-But no other human could _do_ something like that!"

"…I have a feeling that the woman is _anything_ but human," the convict spoke up as the brunette heard the man slowly getting up (and briefly wondered how he managed to do that while being cuffed).

Lloyd looked back at the blue haired man, blinking. "…What makes you think that?" Colette was the first to ask.

"It's a feeling more than anything."

Lloyd had no idea how to comment on that.

"Anyways, we better get out of here," Yuri piped up after a moment of silence. "The ruckus we made, along with the scent of blood, would draw monsters to us."

"You seem to know a bit about monsters," the man spoke up.

"Nah, I only know from what a friend of mine told me and from my previous experience," Yuri waved it off.

"I suppose…"

"Oh, yes! We've forgot to introduce ourselves." The blonde suddenly piped up, making the brunette to look over at his friend, startled, as she went over to the man and shook his hands, "My name is Colette! Pleased to meet you!"

…The brunette isn't sure if he should even comment on that – this isn't the first time she tried to befriend someone (even if they tried to kill her, remembering their first encounter with Sheena). Looking over at the man, he seemed rather startled (or confused) by the girl's…bubbliness.

"These two are Lloyd and Yuri, but, I'm sure you already knew that, right?" The girl continued, oblivious to the looks she was getting. "What's yours?"

"…Regal," he answered after a moment.

"'Regal'?" Yuri repeated, "That sounds…not like a name a convict should have… It sounds a bit…noble-like if you ask me."

"You may say that," the man said, "Some parents would usually give their child with meaning – usually something that fits the child's characteristics in the future or after their dearly beloved."

"…Huh," Lloyd and Yuri let out at the same time.

"I never really thought about it that way…" The brunette heard the dark haired man mutter to himself. Lloyd decided to, wisely, not to ask the man what's on his mind.

"Okay…" Lloyd let out slowly, "Since we're all searching for a way out…I guess we have to go; the four of us, for now."

"Wait a minute," the dark clad male looked over at the red clad swordsman, "You're not serious about bringing this guy along, are you?"

"Well, why not?" He said, as if it was obvious. "He said he wanted to talk to Presea – and besides, if we run into the others, we could say that we made him our prisoner." Although, he's not sure if the Professor (and Genis, Sheena and Rita) would believe that, he thought.

Even Yuri looked like he didn't believe it, looking down at him with a deadpanned look. After few moments, however, he sighed. "Alright fine; we'll have it your way. But just remember this," he said as he looked over at the convict, glaring at him as he put his hand onto his hip, "I'm keeping an eye on you if you try anything funny."

Regal just looked at the dark haired male and nodded. "Very well; I swear on my name, and the shackles that bind me," he held up his bond hands, "that I won't betray your trust."

The three of them stared at him for a bit…then Lloyd nodded. "Alright; let's go then."

The group of four began their trek to the forest-

"OH!" Colette gasped, prompting Lloyd and Yuri to look back at her.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

"…We forgot most of our stuff back at our camp!"

Lloyd nearly fell over – nearly – but then he suddenly remembered: they really _did_ forget their stuff back there! They were in such a rush to help Yuri and-!

"Oh CRAP! The Professor will _kill_ us if we lost it! !" The boy shouted, in panic mode.

Oh damn, oh damn, oh _CRAP_! How could he-? That's just- _He doesn't _want_ to DIE! !_ He's too young, and-!

Something was pressed onto the top of his head and – after the brunette calmed down a bit – that something started to rub his head hard enough to make his chin bob up and down.

"H-Hey!" He exclaimed, managing to see the familiar dark hair of the man, "knock it off Yuri!" He even flailed his hands at Yuri's to make him stop. The dark haired male done so after a moment, moving his hand as the boy quickly tried to tame his hair.

"Don't worry," the man told him, "We'll just go back to our campsite and retrieve our stuff. Then we'll go out and find the others real quick, alright?"

Lloyd nodded absently, once his hair is fixed. "Okay."

...and Lloyd could've sworn he heard Regal chuckle a little.

It wasn't really long for them to get to the site to gather their things before they were on their way…

…But Lloyd couldn't shake the feeling that something…isn't right.

"Um…Am I the only one who feels that we're being watched?" He spoke up after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Huh? What do you mean, Lloyd?" The blonde asked, sounding confused.

"I dunno…" the brunette answered, "It's a strange feeling I'm getting."

He's been getting that feeling for quite a while now, ever since they left the campsite a few minutes ago actually. At first, he thought that it was his imagination; but as they continued their way, the feeling just grew. And he could've sworn he heard the branches above them rustle a little…but the thick canopy above them prevents the winds from doing something like that. Ever; that's what Regal told him when he asked this.

"…Okay, my 'something that's going to crap on my day' senses are tingling again," Yuri piped up after a few moments.

At that, Lloyd was afraid that something _really _bad is going to happen-

There was an explosion and black smoke covered his vision. He heard coughing – and himself, feeling the smoke go into his lungs – and his eyes burned as he covered his mouth to try to prevent the smoke from contaminating his lungs anymore. He heard Colette's yelp, Yuri's shout and Regal's grunt-

He felt something hit him at the back of his neck and everything went black...

* * *

**M'kay, I'm going to end that right there because I've been keeping you guys waiting long enough. Sorry about that…and I've ended the chapter with a cliffhanger. Bad me!**

**Heavy Weapons Guy: Authoress! You are STUPID!**

**What the-? ! The hell are YOU doing here Heavy?**

**Heavy: Sandvich senses tingled. Came here to look for it.**

**Ugh, fine! *threw a bologna sandwich at his head* Now leave me alone!**

**Heavy: SANDVICH! *chases after it***

…**Ugh, now I'm regretting watching those Team Fortress 2 videos on Youtube; I don't own the game, but I don't think my laptop could handle it. But, that's what happens when boredom hits you while attending college…although, the nine classes have their own unique personality, and some of them ARE kinda neat…*became lost in her thoughts***

**Sheena: …And we've lost her. Terrific.**

**Zelos: Then we'll take it from here. What has befallen Bud and his group after a meeting with a possibly hot chick? What's up with the warning she gave out? What are the Brat and his gang and the dead sexy Zelos Wilder and his hunnies doing while we were separated from them? And why the hell don't I get enough of my own point of views? ! It's not FAIR! *shakes his head and grins again* Anyways, leave a review my lovely hunnies! And, uh, you other people; of course, it's not like the authoress has a lot of fans. *shrugs***

… ***glares at the male Chosen and turns her head*** **HEAVY! This red haired guy in pink touched your gun!**

**Heavy: VHAT! I AM GOING TO KILL HIM AND KILL HIM BECAUSE **_**NO ONE**_** TOUCHES SASHA!**

**Zelos: Who-?**

**Heavy: *bellows a war cry as he pulled out his minigun***

***The red haired Chosen screamed like a girl as he ran away from the Heavy, as said big man chased after him while firing his gun***

**Sheena: ... You can be evil if you wanted to be... *sweat-drops***

***chuckles evilly, causing most characters around her to move away from her by a foot***

**(Again, I don't own the Heavy Weapons Guy [he belongs to Team Fortress 2 and Valve] and the song Lilium.)**


	18. Chapter 16

Alrighty! Let's go and see what the others have been doing while Lloyd, Yuri and their band of misfits were dealing with their own problems! I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing – not even the Medic's Medigun; and Heavy would not hesitate to kill me if I took his gun. …Yeah, I'm going through a Team Fortress 2 phase; forgive me.**

_(I forgot to add this back in the previous chapter: the part where Lloyd thought he heard something exclaim _'Great!' _was a bit of a spin off from the Tales of Vesperia game, and it's hard ass secret missions. _

_Anyways, here are the details of this particular 'secret mission': _

_Secret Mission Complete! Destroyed the Super Undertaker's casket and prevented it from using long ranged attacks and to heal itself!_

_Okay, got that out of the way, now on with the story!)_

* * *

His lower eye lid twitched. It had done so for the past few hours after they had spent the night in this hellish forest. For the past few weeks, it was nothing but hellish for him ever since he agreed to keep tabs on these people.

He _did not_ ask to become a fugitive because of the damn Pope; _did_ _not_ ask for the people who wanted to kill him; _did not_ ask for the bullshit he had went through with the Renegades and Cruxis (with Yuan apparently wanting Bud and Cruxis wanting the Cute Angel for some reason or another).

And he _diffidently __**did NOT**_ ask to wonder around a forest where people who traveled in these woods _die!_

The red haired Chosen is NOT pleased. _NOT_ pleased at **all**.

The thoughts that went through the Chosen's mind made his eye twitched, before it began to twitch uncontrollably. He had earlier excused himself to go and relief himself. But, of course, going to the bathroom was the _last_ thing on his mind. Not in the place like this; he'd rather go to a REAL bathroom, after not using one after being out with these lunatics for the last few days. Plus, he isn't sure if it's even _safe_ to use the bathroom here; but that's beside the point.

The point is, Zelos just wanted to vent his frustrations out. After letting out a furious growl in his throat, he did just that.

"_This fucking SUUUCKS! ! !_"

The red haired Chosen let his enraged howl carry on and on until his breath ran out and he doubled over, wheezing. His own voice mocked him as it echoed through the forest and just kept going.

But after he regained his breath, he let out an aggravated groan as he vigorously rubbed his head as he began to pace. "I don't believe this!" He complained to himself, "If I had known that this would happen, I wouldn't have agreed to be Cruxis and the Renegades' little spy! But how in the hell would I expect that I'd go through this crap whenever I'm with these people? !"

He spent the next few minutes ranting, using profanities that no Chosen would _ever_ spew.

Sure, he's the Chosen himself, but since when did he _ever_ care about his title? A lot of people only know of him by title – not by who _he_ is. He couldn't understand why the other Chosen before him – and the Cute Angel – could just, he doesn't know, just brush it off. Not say anything or object to being called the 'Chosen', and not their real name? It's ridiculous!

He had a feeling that Cruxis is nothing but crap after what happened years ago – and he was glad that he was right when he learned from the people he was traveling with that Cruxis is an organization of sorts; and the 'angels' aren't angels at all-

Zelos paused in his rant (both verbally and mentally), making a bored look as the thought ran through his head.

Yeah, that's right. All of the 'angels' are nothing more than half-elves; half-elves with evolved forms of Exspheres. To think, he had to go through the hell of being the son of two people who don't even love each other; all for the sake of…well, he didn't know the reason, but it made his life hellish – even with the world prospering and everything, he had dealt with the knowledge of one day dying to regenerate the world…if it ever went into decline.

Of course, there are people who gave him a stink-eye – all thinking of a ridiculous idea that he would off the king and rule the world of Tethe'alla himself; not like he wanted to rule anyways. Yes, he flirts with woman…but he would only get them drunk – which he made them _very_ rare – enough that they'll think that they're carrying his child; with them stripping off their clothes and passing out in his bed. He would _never_ lay in a bed with a woman – there's actually one he wanted to be with…but with the incident with the women a few years ago, he isn't sure if she'll _ever_ forgave him.

Just as he isn't sure if Seles would forgive him, after what happened nearly sixteen years ago. What her mother did…not only did it make him dislike (hate is a strong word; and he already knew that there are a lot of half-elves that aren't bad – but, again, overcoming the idea that's been beaten into you since you were a child is tough) half-elves, but he also wished that he _had_ died that day. At least his mom would have a decent life, and Seles would be free – or as free as she could be…

To be honest, he had considered offing himself back then, a couple of months after _that_…but there was actually one person – one person who treated him as a _person_; who treated him as _Zelos_. Not 'Chosen One' or anyone special. That person isn't special himself – he had never considered himself special, as well – and yet he had insisted on being his friend. It was strange, really, that a simple music box caused them to meet; the boy he had met – a year younger than him – lost his mother four years ago, and was merely in Meltokio because his dad had business in the city. When asked, not even the boy had an idea – said that his dad is very…secrecy in some things; and he didn't bother to ask what they are. Soon after, and Zelos had no idea what exactly happened, but that boy insisted that they should meet the next day, at the very same area where they met around the morning; he even promised to be there.

At first, Zelos considered not taking the boy seriously – the boy might've been a commoner, and his teacher said that a noble like him should never associate with them – and yet…yet Zelos somehow managed to sneak out of his mansion, and waited on the boy. He had waited for a while, well into the late morning. The red haired Chosen was sure that the boy had probably tricked him, or something…but he came. The boy came, apologizing for being late – since he had to beg his dad to come here – and brought him something. It was a simple, white headband – since his hair tends to fall into his face a couple of times – but the boy handed it to him, saying that it'll keep his hair out of his face when he placed it on him, then showed him his 'treasure' – that music box, playing a particular melody that he hadn't heard of. But…he liked it. It was so strange, not like other music he had heard, yet he _liked _it.

After that day, Zelos would often sneak out of his mansion to play with the boy – whose name that he had forgotten (making him feel bad; since it's been so long. But what he _could_ remember of the boy was his bluish purple hair and nearly light blue eyes with a ring of green around the pupil) – whenever he was able to, doing some things that made him feel like a normal boy; feeling _alive_. But…one day, a year after their meeting, when Zelos had managed to sneak out of the mansion – Sebastian had long since figured out what the boy has been up to, but allowed him to go out and play with his friend – and waited…and waited…and _waited_… yet the boy never came. Feeling hurt, Zelos returned home, stung with the feeling of betrayal…until Sebastian handed him a letter from the boy's father. It said that something had happened and his friend had to go away for a while. He wasn't sure what a 'while' is…but as the years went by, the red haired Chosen had a feeling that something bad might've happened to the boy – perhaps he was killed, like his mother…

But, feeling a bit naïve, Zelos had clung onto the hope that he's still alive somewhere. He was the very first male friend he ever had – and he had clung onto that hope, to this day; the white headband he's wearing is his symbol of that hope – he'll only take it off once he confirmed the status of his friend. Along the way, he had met Sheena, who told him of a friend she also has – with a similar music box, no less – and would often tease him with a nickname, which meant 'Lily' or 'Glass' in her language.

Then he ended up meeting with a 'messenger' from Cruxis a couple of weeks ago before he met Bud and the others, being Pronyma. Cruxis had offered a promise that, if they have the person they wanted, they would release him of his title, and Seles would become the new Chosen. On the other hand, the Renegades also promised him of being free from the title if they took down Cruxis. At the time, he didn't care _who_ would lift the title off of him; so long as one of them wins.

But then along came Bud and his people, making a mess of things. As he traveled with them, he couldn't help but scoff at some of the words Bud had said – because that's all they are, _words_. Yet…yet he had managed to move a few people, with just words; and the boy had taken the red haired Chosen's antics in _stride_. Though, Zelos felt that he had reminded him of that boy he had met so long ago.

The other people, the two half-elves he felt a little biased to. Again, it's the teachings that had been beat into you are at fault…yet, at the same time, the two couldn't stand him. Understandable, considering his attitude; yet he only did that because he didn't want to feel anymore hurt – and he didn't know who he could trust, really.

There's also Sylvarant's Chosen, the Cute Angel. Again, he still couldn't understand why she would be…happy at times, even when things seemed bleak. When he first asked about the condition she was in, he now felt a little biased at going on the World Regeneration ritual – because, really, he'd rather not lose whatever's made him human; and also, why would he risk (or rather sacrificing) his life for a world that doesn't give a damn about him? Yet, when he asked her _why_ she would do that, her answer was that she wanted a world where everyone could be happy; it makes her feel happy if everyone else is happy. And he had to admit, she was a much better Chosen than he is.

And then there's Yuri. From what Zelos could see, the man doesn't like nobles too well; as well as being perspective. But when he first heard Bud say his name that day…Zelos didn't know why, but he felt that he _knew_ the man; and when he had taken a closer look at the Crimson Chamber, he noticed that he somewhat resembled the boy he had met; _somewhat_. But…if it is, then how come he didn't _recognize_ him? The boy has a damn good memory; rarely forgetting things – sometimes, when he claims he 'forget' it was often as a harmless prank. If it is him, then how come Yuri doesn't _remember _him? He felt hurt at the time too, especially when he heard Miss Irritable – his nickname for the red clad girl with attitude – mention a 'Flynn' who is his best friend.

And he didn't know _why_ it hurts. It's not like Yuri _is_ that boy…

Zelos needed proof; if Yuri _is_ him…he had to figure out why he doesn't remember. But where could he-

"Hey!"

The red haired Chosen nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone exclaiming at him – nearly; but he quickly recognize the voice and turned to the source, seeing Sheena. He blinked a little – did Sheena… for a split second, did she look _concerned_ about him? Or was it his imagination?

Her face changed into irritated when he looked at her – yeah, it probably was his imagination.

"Are you done yet?" She asked, tapping her foot, "We should've left a few minutes ago."

…oh.

Damn, where did the time go by-? He quickly answered his own question with a quick glance at the canopy. Damn trees…he's now getting sick of looking at them.

He quickly went back to his usual façade and made a miserable sigh – he didn't actually have to pretend being miserable; he's pretty miserable enough after the mess he had gotten himself in. "Damn…I am _so_ sick of this place; I wish that we would get out of here now."

The purple clad woman made an irritated sigh, before they (reluctantly on his part) made their way back to the orange clad half-elf. "If it makes you feel better, I've already sent out Corrine to see if the coast is clear," she said after a few minutes.

"Really?" He perked up a bit.

"Yeah, but we won't hear from him for a couple of minutes," she added, and he had to stop himself from slumping.

Oh well, better than nothing, he supposes.

A thought then struck him. He looked over at the female ninja. "Hey Sheena, can I ask you about something?"

"If it's something perverted or anything related, the answer is no," she said.

"Hey, it's nothing like that! Honest!" He defended himself.

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "Like what you said when you peaked on me in the shower?"

…He honestly forgot about that; but it was literally an accident. Though, it seemed that she won't believe him anytime soon; or forgive him about it.

"Sheesh, I just wanted to ask you about Yuri is all," he said, getting a bit irritated himself, "You don't have to be a-"

He was cut off (or rather, he cut himself off to stop himself from calling Sheena _that_ word – that would just piss her off some more) when she looked over at him in shock, asking, "Why the hell are you asking about him?"

Ah. She was probably thinking if he's going to tease her about her little crush on the man. The man would spare her of the teasing…for now. "Well…it's mostly out of curiosity," he said, shrugging a little, "but…do you believe that ol' Yuri looks – or feels – familiar?"

He wasn't surprised when Sheena gave him an odd look. "Why would you say that?" She asked, as the two of them stopped.

The red haired man figured that, since Sheena was pretty young, she probably wouldn't remember; or something. But, he continued as he shrugged, "I dunno. He kinda reminds me of that guy I hung around with when I was little. He looks like him…but he's also, different I guess."

The young woman looked at him for a few moments. Then she said, turning her gaze a little, "Well…when I thought about it, he looks kinda like him but…" She looked back at him, "I don't think it's him at the same time. Yet…I couldn't remember his name."

He blinked. She doesn't remember either?

But she continued, oblivious to his blink, "Though, maybe it's because I was pretty young back then to remember much. But from what I _can_ remember are his hair and eyes: a purple with a hint of blue and a light blue shade of color with a ring of green around the pupil."

Oh, that's right… The red haired man thought, If Yuri is indeed the same guy he once knew, he would've have a blue tint in his purple hair and light blue eyes with a ring of green around the pupil, right? But Yuri doesn't…so…

Yet that doesn't explain why he had a nagging feeling that it _is_ him. And he couldn't get rid of it. Why? What does it mean?

The red haired Chosen shoved it to the back of his mind, and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess that's nothing to worry about I guess," he said, "Just voicing out my thoughts is all."

The purple clad young woman made a weird look at him. "You sure picked a weird time to voice out your thoughts."

Zelos made a sly look. "You know, I _could_ tell you what other thoughts go through my head, my Voluptuous-"

"I'll smack you!" She shouted as she _literally_ smacked him across the face.

"OW!" He yelped out as he rubbed his sore cheek. "Sheena…!" He whined, looking at her like a hurt puppy, "I thought you were supposed to _not_ smack people when you warn them!"

"I know you," was her answer as she walked off, rolling her wrist along the way.

…Well, okay, that was true. Of course, he couldn't let anyone know about what _really_ goes on in his mind at times. Because, really – who can you trust? He had to keep up his mask to keep people from using his weakness to their advantage.

If he has to keep being a flirt and an asshole to these people, then so be it.

He heaved out a great sigh and followed after the female.

It actually didn't take them long to get back to the Professor, and a few minutes in (after Corrine told them that it's safe) they continued on; but, also in a few minutes, he had to entertain himself – but not with them. Sheena and the Professor's slaps _hurt_. And he didn't want any more while in the forest with them. So he used something else to try to entertain himself.

He hummed a couple of notes he remembered hearing from that music box long ago. He couldn't remember the words exactly, but he _does_ remember how they sound; yet he doesn't get why the last part of the song repeated. The part that he remembered going 'Oh quam sancta…quam serena… Quam benigma…quam amoena e…sse Virgo creditur…' continuously. After you close the box and open it up again after a moment, it'll start over again to the beginning.

Though maybe it was designed to do that, he reasoned. But, on the other hand, he could care less about how most stuff works…

Because, sometimes, it's better that way-

He nearly swore when an explosion of dark smoke appeared before them, falling (rather ungracefully) on his ass. He was fortunate that the women didn't see his, err, 'accident', being too busy with the dark smoke dissipating and-

…Hey, isn't that one of Sheena's friends? He thought, blinking dumbly at the blue clad man that appeared before them.

"Sheena!" The man exclaimed, "Thank the spirits that you're unharmed!"

"Orochi!" The female ninja exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing here?"

At that the man sighed, as if he was exhausted or something – but it's hard to tell with these ninja people, since they wear those masks. "I believe we have to go to our village," he said, "I'll be able to explain everything there."

"Mizuho?" Sheena let out in confusion, "But why would we-?"

"I have recently gotten a report from one of our own that they have captured four people wondering about near Mizuho," Orochi cut her off as he explained (the red haired man pushing himself to stand and dusted has ass off), "We're not sure about who they worked for, but we always have to be cautious no matter where we are. Not only that, our vice chief wanted a word with you."

Well, not that he could blame the people of Mizuho for their ways – they're a secretive bunch anyways-

Wait.

"Hang on," the red head spoke up, "You said something about four people. Could you fill us in on what they look like?"

The three of them blinked at him; to be honest, he had to know who it was the people of Mizuho had captured. For all he knows, those people could've been their friends. But who's the fourth-?

He was broken from his train of thought when the blue garbed man answered, "From what they told me, it was a boy clad in red with two swords; a girl clad in white; a man with dark clothing and a sword; and what seems to be a blue haired convict."

"…Aw crap," Zelos let out, as Sheena and the Professor are staring at him now.

Maybe ol' Yuri is cursed after all…

_**~o~**_

The young five year old stayed close to him as they walked in the forest. He could feel the child's fingers in his fur, and could feel the child's nervousness as they go. The canine warrior kept his ears open and eye peeled for any danger that could be lurking around them. When he heard the child whimper, the dog nudged him a little, giving out a reassuring whine to him, calming him down almost instantly.

Repede ran through the events in his head again. After the rampaging roots had suddenly ceased as soon as they suddenly appeared, the vice chief ordered that all the villagers must remain in Mizuho until they're sure everything is safe. Early this morning, when everything seemed fine, scouts were sent out to see what is going on, and to bring back people that seemed suspicious, while others were tasked to be lookouts for the village.

While they were doing that, everyone who isn't able – the sick, the elderly, women and children – has to remain in the village; until the vice-chief gives out an all clear. When that will be is, admittedly, a mystery.

Of course, like many children, Kohta was filled with curiosity about the strange happenings. And Repede _still_ has no idea on how the boy had done it, but he had managed to sneak past the watchful eyes of the ninjas at the watch towers around parts of Mizuho. Either the kid is more skilled than he looks… or extremely lucky; yeah, he's going for the latter. Because there's no way in hell a kid his age would be _that_ skilled...

The dog warrior will try to figure it out later; they have other things to do right now. Kohta wanted to check out the Gaoracchia Forest a little more – actually, it's to find out what's really going on – and Repede will make sure to bring the boy home safely. He owes his life to this boy, and he intends to repay that debt-

His ear twitched, slowing his pace and then came to a complete stop when he heard something. Footsteps; three of them in total…and they sound pretty close.

He barely heard Kohta asking what's wrong as he slowly made his way over to where the footsteps were, like the ancestor of all dogs – the wolf – stalking their prey. His footsteps were light, barely making a sound as he went about it slowly. The footsteps – and the voices – soon became a little louder; that means he's getting closer-

Wait, voices?

He stayed still as his keen ears twitched a little, trying to hear better; soon, he could clearly hear them.

"…much longer are we going to walk through here?" The dog could tell that it was a young boy – but it was not Karol.

"We are approximately an hour before we arrive in Ozette." Another voice spoke – a female with a monotonous tone, "That is, if we don't run into anymore interruptions."

A groan – a very _familiar_ groan – droned out, followed by a very _familiar _voice that said: "I'm getting _sick_ of this forest! It's one thing with the Papal Knights after us, the monsters that roam here _and_ of the fact that it's said to be cursed; but to wonder aimlessly here? It's ridiculous!"

Repede jerked his head in surprise. Rita is here on this world as well?

The dog decided to try to get a closer look, making his footsteps light once again. As he does, he could hear the other footsteps getting closer; it wasn't long until he had gotten close to some bushes. He slowly sticks his head out, but made sure that he's still hidden; just in case.

Immediately, he saw the source of the voices he heard. Two children – who seemed to be around Karol's age – a boy with silver-y white hair wearing blue, and a girl with pink hair in pigtails wearing a navy blue dress-like outfit…

…And trailing behind the pink haired girl (who has a blank look in her eyes, and an axe strapped onto her back), walking with the silver haired boy, is Rita; Rita Mordio, with the ever present irritated look on her face.

Okay, at least Rita is okay…but where's Yuri and the others? He could smell Yuri off of them – like that ninja woman that was at the village a couple of weeks ago-

The pink haired girl stopped walking suddenly, prompting Rita and the silver haired boy to stop as well; the former standing there while the other two looked at her – the two of them confused by the girl suddenly stopping.

"What? What is it Presea?" The boy in blue asked.

The girl didn't reply. But she reached for her axe, stating: "There is an enemy with us."

The two were surprised – along with Repede. How did the girl know he was here?

Then Rita's irritation came back. "Seriously?! I'm getting sick of fighting monsters in this godforsaken forest!"

"You know, for once, I kind of agree with you," the boy in blue sighed, "It's hard to take on a lot of monsters with just us. I guess I've gotten used to having a lot of people fighting with us…"

The dog couldn't help but agree with that – it took Yuri a while to understand that he has to trust other people for things he might not be able to burden himself; such an action he took to get the others while they were on their way to Zaphias, to get to Estelle – to make his human realize that-

The bushes a few feet from him rustled a bit, and the dog – along with Rita and the boy – tensed. But for different reasons; for the two, it might be the enemy the girl, Presea, may have sensed. For Repede…his nose instantly told him what – or rather who – it was.

"Uh- H-Halt! Do not go further!"

Oh no.

Rita and the boy in blow eased their guard – slightly – but not the pink haired girl, upon hearing the young child's voice. "The hell…?" He heard Rita mutter under her breath, before she shouted, "Okay, who the hell are you?"

The dog heard the boy stutter a little – understandable, considering that he's still a child (and of the fact that Rita…is easy to irritate, when in a foul mood; and it seems the brunette is in a bad mood right now) – before he seemed to regain a bit of confidence to answer, "M-My name is not important! Y-You are in forbidden territory! You best leave at once or face the consequences!"

The boy would've been convincing if he didn't stutter. Which is why Rita (and even the boy in blue) doesn't look convinced.

Raising her brow a little, Rita crossed her arms. "Consequences…right," she said with an unconvinced tone.

"I'm being serious!" Kohta exclaimed childishly. And if Repede is a human, he would've palmed his face, right then and there.

The boy in blue and Rita gave each other a look, each with an incredulous look. "…This is the enemy Presea felt?"

"I'm not sure," Rita said to the boy in blue. "Hey, are you sure there's- Wait, what are you-?"

Repede cursed himself for not paying attention to the pink haired girl as she drew her axe (it made a shallow/rather deep gash onto the earth where it impacted – how strong _is_ this girl exactly? ? It took Karol a while to get used to the weight of the Bravior sword – and he still is, even after the battle with Alexei – and yet the girl moved her axe as if it was nothing!) seemingly ignoring Rita as she pounced and swung her axe-

Where Repede would've been had he not jumped away in time, the debris from the impact nearly hitting him yet he managed to land safely at a distance. He barely heard the two kids as he had to dodge the strikes made at him by the girl Presea.

The warrior dog already knew that he can't use his Strike Artes here – since Blastia only run on Aer, not Mana – so he had no choice but to continue to dodge the girl's slashes. But she's relentless! The canine was slightly amazed that she isn't getting tired from swinging her axe around a lot.

Repede didn't want to hurt her…but he can't keep out pacing her forever.

Just when it seems that the girl will get the upper hand, something…unexpected happened.

"NO! !" The boy's cry seemed to have made the pinkette stop her assault before the small blur that is Kohta latched onto her arm and tried to pull her away (with little to no progress). "DON'T HURT REPEDE! WHAT HAS HE DONE TO YOU? ?" He cried, trying to get the girl to move away from the canine.

"Hey, wait a second," that was Rita, said brunette walking over to them to look at the dark haired boy in the blue kimono. "How exactly do you know Repede, kid?" She asked, looking down at the kid funny.

From what the canine can see, the boy blinked up at her. "How do _you_ know Repede?" He questioned back.

"One of my companions is this dog's master," she answered, "And I've traveled with them for a while."

"Really?" The boy in blue piped up, walking next to Rita. "Who does he belong to?" He boy couldn't help but shift his blue hued gaze over to the dog – it was as if he was trying to comprehend that this was, in fact, a dog.

The dog snorted, walking over to sit next to Kohta – making the silver haired boy jump a little, and move a bit away from the dog – as Rita replied, "Doesn't matter right now, we're looking for him and the others right now after that root fiasco yesterday."

The blue and white furred canine sharply looked up at the female mage. Yuri is here as well?

"Big roots?" Kohta parroted, tilting his head a bit and made a thoughtful look. "I _did_ hear the adults talking about some large roots going out of control yesterday…"

"Yeah," the boy in blue said, "And we have no idea what caused them to go crazy like that."

Kohta let out a thoughtful hum. "The adults don't talk about it much around children like us…and Vice-Chief Tiga ordered those expect foot soldiers to stay in the village."

"If that's true, then how come you're out here?"

"I wanted to know what the adults are keeping from us," the Mizuhoan boy answered Rita's question, "So I snuck out."

The four of them stared at the boy for a few moments.

"…Aren't Sheena's people supposed to be skilled like that?" The boy in blue asked, "Because they would've found you by now. So how exactly…?"

"I waited until the adults were busy before I left," was the child's simple answer.

"…I think you just got lucky," Rita said.

Yeah, that's what he was thinking too.

"Anyways, you're lucky that you have Repede with you," the female mage added, "The pooch is just as tough as his owner."

"Really? Wow…" The boy let out in awe.

"…If he has the same personality as Yuri - assuming that Yuri _is_ the dog's owner - then we'd all be in trouble…" The silver haired boy let out, shaking his head as if sadly.

The warrior dog let out a snort, a canine's version of an amused grunt.

"Hey, wait a second," the little boy suddenly let out, getting their attention back, "You guys said 'Sheena'; how do you know Sheena?"

Ah, the ninja woman who had come to Mizuho all those days ago; the one with Yuri's scent on her.

"She's a friend of ours," the boy in blue said. "She helped us out a lot in the past."

"Really?" The boy let out, "Then… If you guys are friends of Sheena, then you should come to the village with us!"

"…Huh?" The canine had to agree with the two of them, the three of them looking at Kohta incredulously.

"I'm sure it'll be fine!" The little boy said naïvely. "If I can explain to Vice-Chief Tiga-san that you guys are Sheena's friends, then everything would be okay!"

The canine could see that neither Rita nor the boy had the heart to tell the child about the flaws in his plan…but that carefree grin on the child's face made them unable to.

"C'mon! Let's go, let's go!" Kohta exclaimed as he grabbed Rita's hand and started to drag the poor girl with him. The dog shook his head sadly, sparing the boy in blue a glance before following the red clad mage (noticing Presea silently following along).

Repede had a feeling it won't end well.

_**~o~**_

The first thing Yuri became aware, once he came to, was feeling something against his back. He wasn't sure what it is, and when he tried to open his eyes, found that something had obscured his sight, quickly realizing that someone had blindfolded him.

Well, getting captured isn't new to him – he was thrown into jail more times than he can count for the last four years, and of recent events (somewhat captured by the Renegades, then taken captive by Raine and the others) – but…the things that are new to him were getting blindfolded…and tied down to something. He figured the last part out when he found that he couldn't move his arms…and he's sitting down on something hard.

He tried to move his hands to try to remove the blindfold, but it's pretty much impossible. After trying a few more times, he let out an exasperated sigh and dropped his arms. Yuri shook his head. "This is stupid…" He muttered.

A familiar groan hit his ears…behind his right. "Damn…what the hell happened?"

"Lloyd?" Yuri let out, "Lloyd is that you?"

"Wha…? Yuri? What the hell happened?" The boy asked, sounding disoriented.

To be honest, the dark haired man doesn't know. He remembers…he remembers his encounter with that strange woman, surviving a battle with the giant, mutated Undertaker and… oh, yeah.

"I think we got ambushed and knocked out…" Yuri told him. And it sucked, he mentally added.

"Really…? Aw, dammit…" The boy let out.

"I see that you are awake," a voice spoke up, and the dark haired man heard someone walking over to him – now that he thought about it, he heard many other footsteps away from them (and briefly wondered how come he didn't notice all of that before).

But the dark haired man is immediately on edge, his body tensing. "Okay, who the hell are you and where are we?"

The person didn't answer, but the person walked up to him reached behind his head. The next thing he knew, the blindfold was taken off and he got a sight full of his location.

It isn't what he was expecting. There are houses made of wood instead of stone or metal; the houses also looked…old style, somehow. There are a lot of people walking about, dressed…somewhat like Sheena, but different – most of them are dressed like dresses, and among other things. There are also many cherry trees almost everywhere, their petals drifting down to the ground much like the petals of Halure's Blastia tree.

The sight of the trees and the petals falling would've been beautiful…if he didn't have a disturbing feeling that he had seen all of these before…

…And of the suspicious look of the person – resembling Kunichinawa but the outfit is colored light blue – and some others behind this person (where in the hell did they come from?).

"Uh, what-?" He cut himself off when he felt one of their weapons – kunai knives he remembered Sheena calling them when she showed him the knives – pressed against his neck.

"We'll do the questioning here, outsider," the lead ninja said, coldly. "So you better hold your tongue."

"Why should we question them?" Another asks, crossing his arms, "They could be spies for the damn church."

"Wha-? We're not spies!" Lloyd exclaimed, "We're not even on the Pope's side!"

"…uh…" That was Colette, coming to…behind his left. "…Huh? What? Where am I?"

"…It seems we've been captured," And that was Regal, coming from…behind?

'…_Was he awake the whole time?'_ Yuri thought, feeling a bit weirded out at the moment.

"If you are done talking amongst yourselves," one of the guards coldly stated (getting the dark haired male's attention back to them), "You best start talking." The dark haired male felt the weapon press a little harder to his neck (not enough to draw blood or choke him). "Who are you? And what business do you have in the Forest of Death?"

"H-Hey!" Yuri spoke up, "We were just passing through to get to Altessa's house!"

"A likely story," the leader said, narrowing his eyes. "Or it could be that you are lying."

"What reason do we have lying?!" Lloyd shouted, "It's the truth! All of us were heading to Altessa's house to help out a friend! Honest!"

"And who is this friend?"

"She's not with us right now!" Lloyd explained, "All of us had gotten separated when the roots went out of control!"

At that, the people in front of them gave each other a look…with Yuri mentally grumbling that he's going to pummel Lloyd for giving out too much information, but then changed it to try to pummel the guards for pressuring them to give out information. He was entertaining the thought until he heard:

"That's a likely coincidence." Looks like they're back in focus, again, Yuri thought.

"Really!" Lloyd insisted, "That's what happened!"

The guard looked he was about to say something-

"That is enough!"

The guards (and Yuri) looked to the source to see a man (perhaps in his mid-thirties to early forties) with brown hair (the dark haired male can see bits of grey on them), his dark eyes slightly narrowed, and a bit of hair on his chin. His outfit is like the other people of the village, a pair of green pants (his mind told him they're called hakamas), a type of shirt folded over like most of the men here wore and a yellow, sleeveless…haori? – walking up to them with his hands behind his back.

The dark haired male was about to question himself where the hell the information came from…when the man said, "What is the idea of treating Sheena's comrades like that?"

Yuri blinked in surprise at that. He wasn't the only one who were surprised, the guards in front of them turning to the man approaching. "Vice-Chief Tiga! These four are allies of the chief's granddaughter?"

Wait, they all knew Sheena-?

Oh, duh; he wanted to smack himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course all of these people have the same outfit designs as Sheena; because this is Sheena's home. He has to admit, the culture here is _really_ different from Meltokio and Sybak (along with the towns and cities back on Terca Lumireis); but it's actually a rather nice change to tell the truth.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, the female, purple clad ninja walked up to them (with another like the guards but colored blue, instead), standing beside the 'Vice-Chief'. "He and the others are part of the group from Sylvarant," she told them, "We all got separated when the roots went on a rampage yesterday."

"I am sure that this is all a misunderstanding," Yuri's blood froze when he heard the voice. For a moment, he thought that it was Cumore and he had come back from the dead to haunt him…but the rational part of him told him that Cumore is dead…

And that it was the man in blue with the three that spoke up, and he calmed down. Only a little.

"I hope you can forgive the guards," Tiga's voice brought the dark haired man back to reality. "We are rather…mistrustful of outsiders."

Another thing, the people here are doing their job _right._ He remembered Sheena telling them that her people had been ostracized for hundreds of years. So he doesn't really blame them for being cautious.

Yuri shrugged (well, as much as he could). "You guys were just doing your job," he said, "So, no harm done."

The man nodded and gestured with his hands. The guards in front of them nodded and moved to untie them and the others. "Once we have located the rest of your friends lost in the woods, come and meet me at the main hut," the Vice Chief told them, "Sheena will show you the way once you're ready."

Once the yellow and white clad man turned and left (with Yuri and the others rubbing their arms as they stood up), Sheena turned to them. "I'll meet you guys by the river."

"All right," Yuri nodded as the female ninja walked off. He looked around a bit…noticing that the man with voice similar to Cumore's and the other guards have disappeared. He blinked. "Wish I could do that…" He muttered.

"Whoa…/Wow…/Impressive," came the responses from Lloyd, Colette and Regal, as they came up beside him.

"So this is Sheena's home," Lloyd spoke up, looking around in awe.

"It's so pretty!" Colette exclaimed.

"To think that I would be in the hidden village of ninjas itself…" Regal sounded as if he was stunned (and did he detect humbleness in his voice?).

"Anyways, if Sheena's here, then some of the others that had gotten separated must be here as well." It seemed right, Yuri figured. But the question is: who was with Sheena?

"Let's take a look around before meeting Sheena!" Colette suggested, walking forward.

Yuri shrugged. "Might as well."

The four of them spent the next few minutes wondering around the village, taking in the sights of the village. Again, the petals reminded him of the luluria petals that fell from the Blastia tree.

The air is so…different here. This village is peaceful; not influenced by the outside world. The people here lived with nature…

…He actually liked it here-

_-Eyes wide in wonder as the pink petals fall to the ground. Holding onto his ()'s hand, he looked around at the people walking about. He saw a couple of children around his age running around, playing with each other_

_He kept his eyes onto the petals falling around them. "() what are they?" He asked, trying to keep track of the petals falling._

_He heard a chuckle. "They're cherry trees, ()" he said, "But here, they're called 'sakura'. During spring, the trees come into full bloom; and during certain times of the year, the petals fall to the ground to bare their fruit." He looked up at – _a shadow of a person_ – as he looked down at him. "Do you know why the petals are there?"_

_He made a thoughtful look, trying to remember. "Um…the petals are used to attract certain insects so that they could use them to…put pollen on them and to…re…product?" He looked back up at () to see if he got it right._

_The man chuckled and rubbed his head. "That's right," he said, "You're a smart little boy, you know?"_

_He beamed happily-_

Yuri groaned a little as a headache passed through his head, and palmed his temples, nearly keeling over as he stopped in his tracks. Dammit, not again…but it isn't so bad as last time.

…and what was with this…ache in his chest? Where did it-?

"Yuri?" He blinked and looked over at Lloyd-

Seeing him blink, surprised. "Hey…you alright?"

The dark haired male blinked. "What?"

Lloyd opened his mouth to speak-

"BUD!"

Both of their heads turned to the source to see Zelos, running towards them. "BUD! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'VE MISSED YOU!" He had his arms in the air and with a stupid grin on his face. Yuri just made a bored look, grabbed Lloyd as soon as the man looked like he was about to hug the brunette-

And the two moved to the side, where the red haired Chosen fell to the ground, face first.

"Careful Lloyd," the swordsman said as he looked down at the pink and white clad man, "There are really strange people around here."

"WHAT? ?" Zelos bolted his head up and looked over at Yuri with a look of disbelief. "YURI! Why are you so mean too me?!"

Yuri saw through the act. "Quit being dramatic," he told him, "You didn't hurt yourself that much."

Zelos sniffed, glancing away.

Colette walked up to the Chosen of Tethe'alla. "Cheer up Zelos!" She said with a smile, "I'm sure Yuri is just as worried about you."

_Uh, no, I wasn't,_ Yuri wanted to say…but something prevented him from doing so.

Zelos looked over at Colette with a shameless grin. "Aw, my Cute Angel, you are always so kind!"

"Oh please," Yuri rolled his eyes as the red haired Chosen stood up and hugged the blonde.

"Wait a minute!" Lloyd's exclamation got their attention to the red clad male as he looked over the male Chosen, "If you're here, then…who was with you and Sheena?"

"…Oh! Yeah, the Professor's with us," the red head straightened up and jabbed his thumb behind him. "She's busy checking out the village."

"Why aren't you with her?" Yuri had to ask, "I figured that you would be flirting with her."

What happened next took the man by surprise – the red haired man visibly _shuddered_. "The marvelous Raine changed into a different woman…!" He hissed out.

…What?

Yuri was about to open his mouth to ask-

A maniacal laugh came from _nowhere_, scaring the crap out of him (and the others). They all turned to the source-

...What the crap? Was the thought going through his head, staring in disbelief.

"MARVELOUS! !" Raine squealed, looking over the nearby well…and there are a lot of people backing away from the Half-elf. "The architect is of hand-carved stone! And the wooden structures holding up the roof…! What sort of material is this? ? They look similar to the wood surrounding the village, and bounded together! Oh, the culture of this village is simply _marvelous_!"

"…Lloyd, who's this woman?" Yuri had to ask, weirded out by the usually calm Professor acting like…this.

"Uh…" The brunette could only say.

"Raine!" A blur of blue and silver – that is Gene – ran by them to get to the woman looking over the well.

At the sound of the younger Half-elf's voice, the orange clad woman turned to the source – back to normal as if in an instant. "Genis!" She exclaimed and the two of them hugged once the boy got to her. "Genis…you're alright. I was so worried!"

"It's alright Raine," the boy said as he drew away. "Rita and Presea were with me, so it's thanks to them that we're fine. …Well, mostly Presea though, because she knew the forest well." He added as a mutter.

"Really?" Lloyd spoke up, "But then, how did…?"

"Oh!" All eyes turned to Colette-

"Repede?" Yuri let out, seeing the dog sitting beside Rita, Presea…and a little boy in blue.

Lloyd's the only one who heard him. "Repede?" He repeated, looking up at the dark haired man.

"Hi there," their attention was back to Colette, as she looked over at the warrior dog, "I don't think we've met, but it's nice to meet you." She reached out to pet the dog-

Who merely dodged her.

"Oh!" The girl tried to pet the dog, but every time her hand gets close, the dog would just move away. The group watches for a few moments, before Yuri spoke up.

"You should give it up Colette," he said, "Repede doesn't like anyone petting him first thing."

"Wait a sec," Zelos said, looking over at Yuri, "You know this dog?"

"Sure," Yuri nodded, before looking over the dog as a smile worked its way up his face, "The two of us had been together for four years. The two of us are partners, through and through."

He felt something tug at his pants and he looked down, seeing the little boy looking up at him. "Are you Repede's owner?"

The man blinked at the boy's question. "How do you know his name?" Or rather, how did the boy know Repede?

As if to answer his unspoken question, the boy smiled. "Repede saved my life; my dad is grateful to him so he's been living with us. He's so smart and cool! He learned how to read and write our language!"

"Is that so?" Regal spoke up in for the first time in a while, "That's quite an intelligent dog."

And the others are now aware of the blue haired convict.

"HEY! It's that guy from the sewers! !" Gene exclaimed, getting his kendama out.

"The hell is he doing here?!" Rita demanded as the two of them got ready to cast their spells.

"WHOA! WAIT A MINUTE! !" Lloyd exclaimed, getting in front of Regal and waved his hands to try to calm them.

"Lloyd-?!"

"Please, don't hurt Regal!" Colette exclaimed, comically waving her arms.

The mages lowered their stances, but didn't ease their guard (nor their magic sigils) as they, Zelos and Raine looked over at her. "…Regal?" Gene repeated.

"That's this guy's name," Yuri explained, jabbing his thumb at him. "We kinda ran into him while we were in the forest."

"But- Huh? Hang on a second; wasn't he working with the Pope or something?" Zelos asked, confused just like the others.

Yuri looked over at Lloyd, who jerked at the look the man was giving him. Mentally telling him 'It was _your_ idea, you explain.'

The boy let out a sigh, before he explained to the others what had occurred on their side, where they fought against a gigantic, mutated version of the Undertaker, the convict helping them taking it down, to their encounter with a strange woman with cerulean hair until they were captured by the guards (the brunette leaving out a few parts).

When he was finished, Raine was rubbing her chin a little. "Interesting…but what reason would that woman want and why was the Undertaker mutated like that?"

"I dunno," Lloyd shrugged, "She said something about collecting data and all of that."

Yuri shifted his eyes over to Regal, seeing him looking at Presea around her level. The man had a pained expression before he looked away from the girl.

He looked back to the others. "Also, Regal wanted to talk to Presea about something," he said, "So Lloyd let him in our group until he does so."

Raine looked about to object- but closed her mouth and shook her head. "Never mind," she sighed, "What's done is done I suppose."

"Raine-!"

"I assure you," Regal spoke up, getting all eyes on him again as he stood up, "I do not attend to harm any of you. If I wanted to, I would've done so while they were fighting the monster, or even before that."

"Other than that, even I know it's not wise to start a fight where some of the guards of Mizuho can take me out before I could make a move," he added, nodding his head a little.

"…You know, he's got a point," Zelos said.

"…Very well," Raine said after a moment of silence, "you may stay around us, but," she narrowed her eyes at the blue haired man, "despite Lloyd letting you in our group, it doesn't mean that I won't keep an eye on you."

Regal just nodded. "I understand."

"SO!" Zelos suddenly exclaimed, and all heads turned to him, "Now that we've got that out of the way, let's head on over to Sheena and talk to the Vice Chief."

"…He's really unbelievable," Yuri shook his head as the red head walked off to where Sheena is. The others began to follow, but the dark clad swordsman paused a little to look over at the boy. "By the way, thanks for taking care of my friend," he said, smiling a little at him.

The boy blinked, looking over at Repede and at him before beaming. "You're welcome, aniki-san."

"…Aniki-san…?" he repeated under his breath as the little boy ran off somewhere. He looked down at Repede. "This is a really strange place, isn't it Repede?"

The warrior dog barked to give his agreement. The dog looked over at the boy and back to Yuri.

Ah.

Yuri nodded. "Go on, Repede."

The dog nodded and trotted after the boy. _'I guess Repede owes the kid for giving him a temporary home,'_ Yuri mentally mused with a small smile before he turned to follow the others.

When he caught up to them, he saw Sheena looking shocked as Lloyd looked nervous, waving his hands to calm the female ninja as he stood in Regal. Looks like Lloyd had to explain to Sheena about Regal's situation. He just waited silently for Lloyd to get done explaining.

Soon enough Lloyd had finished explaining and (after casting Regal an uneasy look) Sheena led them to the Vice-Chief's house (which is bigger than the others in the village). When they got near-

"Hey!"

-the kid's voice made them turn to him, seeing him waving as he and Repede ran up to them. When he got to them, he said, "I gotta explain to Vice-Chief Tiga about bringing the other three to the village with me."

"Alright Kohta," Sheena said, "Make it quick."

The boy nodded and ran inside. Then the female noticed the dog. "Huh? I don't think I've seen this dog before."

"This is Repede," Yuri said, "He's a part of our group back home."

"Wait…" Zelos let out slowly, looking over the dog as he sat next Yuri, "This…dog is a part of your group?"

"That's right," Rita nodded, "The dog can hold his own pretty well against monsters and such."

After a moment, Zelos snorted. "Oh please," he said, "As if this dog can really fight."

For the first time that Yuri had been reunited with Repede, he noticed that the gem on his bodhi blastia is blue (like Rita's). And he also saw a glint in the dog's eye before the dog performed Falling Leaf (the red haired man jumping in surprise) and used Crescent Moon, knocking the man down, face first.

"See?" Yuri had to say, looking down at the red head with a smirk.

"Yeah...I figured this might happen, so I changed Repede's Bodhi Blastia to absorb Mana," Rita added.

"I think I like this dog," Sheena mused to herself.

"Bodhi Blastia...?" He heard Regal mutter under his breath, confused.

"Huh?" Kohta let out as he and Tiga stepped out of the hut, seeing the male Chosen on the ground, groaning. "What happened to the funny man in pink?"

"Funny?!" Zelos exclaimed in indignation, lifting himself up a bit.

The Vice-Chief just chuckled and feathered the boy's head. "It is alright, Kohta," he told the boy, before he looked over the group. "Please come in, we have much to discuss."

All eyes turned to Regal, who sighed. "It's alright," he told them, "I'll wait out here."

The vice-chief looked over the others as they looked at him. "The guards will keep an eye on him," he told them, "Come."

As soon as they walked in, Tiga removed his sandals before the odd type of mat, and stepped onto the raised walkway. Sheena followed his example-

-and turned to the others who were watching with a confused look. "…Oh, right," she said, "It's considered polite to take off your shoes before entering a house in Mizuho. So you just…go in with your socks."

"That's…kinda weird…" Rita admitted.

"Fascinating!" It took all of Yuri's willpower to not jump at the grin on Raine's face as she started to take off her boots. "Such unusual customs!"

"Well, okay then," Lloyd said before he started to take off his boots.

Soon, everyone else (with Zelos grumbling a little under his breath) started to take off their shoes/boots. Yuri just shrugged and did the same. Once their foot wear is against the wall, the group entered the room where the vice-chief currently sits. The dark haired male noticed a pair of unusual looking doors to the side of the room, and he could've sworn he saw someone behind the doors from the door cracked open a little. He shrugged it off to sit with the others.

Then the Vice-Chief went to business. "Sheena has informed me of your current situation," he stated, "who among you are from the other planet, Terca Lumireis?"

Yuri and Rita merely raised their hands. "So is Repede," Yuri added, since the dog is sitting outside with Regal at the moment.

"I see…" The man looked over the two of them – yet they lingered mostly on Yuri, "naturally, you can understand my suspicions towards the two of you. Repede has shown that he is an intelligent canine." Not like Yuri can blame him; meeting a couple of people from another world entirely different from theirs is a bit intimidating.

"Yeah, I don't exactly blame you," Yuri said.

Tiga chuckled a little before he went back to being serious. "We the people of Mizuho now face grave persecution from the Royal Family, seeing as Sheena failed to kill the Chosen of Sylvarant," he stated, "so I ask this question of you, travelers from Sylvarant." The man narrowed his eyes before asking:

"What is it you plan to do here, in the land of your enemies?"

Yuri's eyes shifted over to Lloyd, seeing his eyes shifting down a little in thought. After a few moments of silence, Lloyd lifted his head to meet the vice chief's gaze. "I've been thinking about that," he said, "…Someone asked me why I came all the way to Tethe'alla, what it was I wanted to do." His red-brown eyes narrowed in determination. "I want to find a way for everyone to live, where both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla can prosper, where no one has to suffer. I know it won't be easy…but I wanted to change the system so that there won't be more meaningless deaths. I'm tired of all the killing, the 'sacrificing'…I'm tired of it all. I want to make it so we don't have to be enemies; so everyone can live!"

Yuri looked over the red clad boy in surprise. That's…sort of what Ioder and Flynn were trying to do. Trying to make peace between the Empire and the guilds; changing the system to where everyone has a chance to live, to be treated as equals.

The boy is truly an idealist, like Flynn.

"You talk like the hero, Mithos," Tiga commented, "He was a sublime idealist. He stopped the fighting of the ancient war and made peace; are you saying you can do that?"

Lloyd shook his head. "I'm not Mithos," he told him, "I don't want to do it his way. I want to help the worlds my way," he looked at everyone else in the room, before adding with a smile, "with the help of my friends."

"I see…" then he looked over at Yuri and Rita, before asking, "What about you, people who are not of Tethe'alla or Sylvarant? Do you involve yourself in this conflict that does not concern your world?"

…Yuri could've sworn he heard someone speaking about him and his friends getting involved in the conflict, but he couldn't exactly tell where…

He shook his head. "Does it really matter?" He asked, "We got involved the moment that Yggdrasill attacked me, and we and our other friends got sent to the worlds. And besides…" he looked away, adding, "I can't stand it if people are suffering in front of me. I just can't leave them to their own misery." He never did like seeing people suffering in front of him; he couldn't stand it. He doesn't know why, but he hated to feel so…so useless.

He looked back at Tiga, and said, "So, I'm with Lloyd on this; if he wanted to change the system where everyone can live as equals, then I'm in."

Tiga nodded and looked over at Rita. "What about you?"

"Eh, well, I don't really care, either way," she answered, "But, I don't like how Half-elves are treated and all of that. So I guess I'm in this thing too."

"So, you both believe Lloyd's wish to find a way to save both worlds is the right way?" Tiga asked them.

"We already told you," Yuri spoke up, "We're game if this plan helps everyone."

The man smiled, then nodded before looking at Lloyd. "Then we, the people of Mizuho will also search for a better way."

"Vice-Chief, do you mean-!?" Sheena started.

"Woah, Tiga, you sure you wanna turn the Church and the Royals against you like that?" Zelos asked, sounding surprised.

Tiga just looked over at him. "I could ask you the same," he said, "if given the choice between the forces that wish to sacrifice one world, and the one that wants to preserve both worlds, which would you choose?"

All eyes turned to Zelos as he went silent for a few moments. "Well…" he began, rubbing the back of his head, "I'd like to say 'the one that's likely to win'…but I guess I'd want to choose the one that wants to preserve both worlds."

His blue eyes shifted over to Yuri's, and the man blinked. What-?

"Then will you accept our services?" Tiga's question returned Yuri's attention back to him.

"Is everyone okay with us joining forces with Mizuho?" Lloyd asked, looking at the others.

"If it will help the two worlds," Colette said, nodding.

"I see no down-side," Zelos shrugged.

"How can there be one?" Gene agreed.

"I just want to go home," Presea stated.

"Hm…yes, this will be big help," Raine nodded, after rubbing her chin.

"Doesn't matter to me, either way," Yuri said.

"If it'll help us out," Rita shrugged.

Lloyd grinned before looking back at the vice-chief. "That settles it! We all would really appreciate your help!"

"Very well," Tiga nodded, "But, in exchange for helping you, we would like to move to Sylvarant, once this is all over."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked, "I don't-"

"It's alright," Tiga assured him, "We just wish for you to assist us in the move."

"Oh, that's it? We can do that," Lloyd nodded.

Tiga smiled. "Thanks to Sheena putting tracking cards on them, we shall work on locating the Rheairds; it won't take long to locate them. In the meantime, I shall appoint Sheena to once again accompany you. Not as an observer, but as a representative." He looked over at Sheena. "Make us proud, Sheena."

The purple clad female nodded. "Yes sir!"

A guard appeared next to the vice-chief and whispered something into his ear. Tiga's narrowed and nodded. The guard backed away and disappeared…to somewhere. "I just received a report that the Papal Knights have entered the forest and are searching for you."

"What? But I thought-?"

"From what they told me," Tiga cut off Lloyd by explaining, "they are reinforcements sent in by the carrier pigeon from a dying knight that was one of the victims of the rampaging roots."

"So then we can't leave Mizuho, just yet," Raine theorized.

"Yes," Tiga nodded. "You may all rest here whenever you wish. We are allies now, after all."

"Okay then," Lloyd said, standing up, "Thank you so much."

They soon left the hut, and walked back to where Regal, Repede and Kohta are…

…seeing the little boy asking a lot of questions to the man. "So, are the forests really different from here?"

Regal just nodded with a smile. "That's correct," he said, "The ecosystem of the forest varies in different regions. Around areas of colder temperatures, there are coniferous trees about that has needle-like leaves to absorb little water, compared to the trees around here in the deciduous forest."

"…He lost me after 'that's correct'…" Lloyd muttered.

Gene and Rita groaned.

"Do people really float on water?" Kohta asked, oblivious to the people watching them.

"It actually depends on the amount of salt within the water," Regal answered, "In most oceans, some of them have fresh water, but the higher concentration of salt they have, the more likely it is for even people who couldn't swim can float. And since our bodies have lesser density than water, their bodies can still float, even if they're dead."

…This guy can put even Estelle to shame. But that kinda explained how Estelle and Rita (who haven't seen an ocean all their lives) can float in the water-

-_He nervously looked over at the water in front of him, the water shifting in and out, in and out… he yelped when the water came too close and he ran behind ()'s leg._

_He heard the man chuckle. "It's okay Ar-, the water isn't going to hurt you."_

_He looked up at him and back at the water. "That's water…?" He asked, "But…it's so big; bigger than the puddles around Mel- after a rainy day."_

"_It's called an 'ocean'," he explained, squatting down to his size, "Most of the world is covered by water, but the ocean takes up most of the planet."_

_He looked unsure, the gazed down at the sand-_

"_Hm?" He saw something shine and bent down look. The thing looked like it was covered in sand. He moved his fingers around it, then dug into it before pulling it out. He blinked; the thing so small that it could rest at the middle of his hand. "What is this?"_

"_It's called a sea shell," () answered, prompting him to look up. "They came from corpses of the bivalvia species and most mollusks. This shell used to be scallop." _

"_Huh…" he let out, looking down at the small thing. He grinned, and exclaimed, "I'm going to find some more!"_

_He heard () chuckling as he ran around the beach to find some more of the sea shells-_

Yuri palmed his temple, and bit back a groan. Dammit, twice in one day – again. He shook his head – it only made the throb worse – and looked over at Regal. Lloyd was talking to Regal about…something, at which he nodded to. "I see…" The man said, "I won't go back on my word that I have given you back in the forest. I promise that I won't betray your trust."

He looked over at Gene, hearing the half-elf growl a little. "Okay fine… But if you try to do anything funny, I'll burn you to a crisp, got it?"

Regal merely blinked over at him. "…Very well…" He said slowly.

"Well, c'mon, we'll stay over at my house," Sheena said, "We'll head out to Ozette once the coast is clear."

As the female ninja walked off with some of the others following her, Yuri kinda just …stood there. How much did he miss? From what he can gather, it seems that Regal is let into the group (officially-ish). The man sighed, shaking his head. "What the hell is going on with me…?" He muttered, palming his temple.

And…what was that word that started with 'Ar'?

Thankfully, the rest of the day (and night) was rather uneventful – besides using 'chopsticks' (in which he found himself using quite well), a small fight between Gene and Zelos stealing each other's food (they were having some type of meat, vegetables, rice and croquettes, though Zelos was the first to start it), the rather…strange way the people here bathe (by scrubbing their bodies first before they get into the water) and of the beds that are placed on the floor (called 'futons'). They explained to Regal about Yuri, Rita and Repede's situation but not a lot about Cruxis (yet), during the time.

The next morning, one of the guards (named Orochi, the one with the voice similar to Cumore's – which made Rita freak out a little) told them that the Papal Knights are still checking the part of the forest further away from Mizuho and Ozette – which is good. Of course…

It was kinda hard to watch Kohta say good-bye to Repede – he hated to see little kids cry.

"Good-bye Repede! I-I'll miss you!" The boy cried out, hugging the dog a little around his neck.

The warrior canine let out a soft whine, gently nudging Kohta.

Yuri will have to do something about that.

He went over to Kohta and squatted down to his level. "Hey, don't cry Kohta," he said, feathering the boy's hair, "It's not really a 'good-bye', it's more of a 'see you later'. If we're around the area, Repede and I will come to visit. Sound good?"

Though the boy sniffled a bit, and tears at the corners of his eyes, he nodded. Yuri chuckled and ruffled his head, and the boy giggled. "Yeah, there you go! That's more like it."

"Hey!" Yuri turned his head to Lloyd, seeing the boy waving his arm, "You guys ready to go?!"

The man stood up. "Yeah, just about!" He called out. Yuri looked back over to Kohta and waved. "See you later."

"Yeah," the boy nodded as he and Repede turned.

The man looked back to see the boy and his father waving at them. Yuri smiled a little.

Though when he turned back around, he blinked a little at the look Lloyd was giving him – a sly kind of smile look. "…What?"

"I _knew_ you were a good person Yuri!" He chuckled as he walked along them.

"What? Is it wrong to comfort little kids?" The man asked, feeling a bit indigent. "Besides, I hate it when little kids cry." Like Pauly, and Karol and some other kids that he had saw crying growing up.

"By the way, was what you said to the Vice-Chief true?" Lloyd asked, to which Yuri nodded without hesitation.

"Every word."

"…I wonder what Ozette is like," Lloyd said once they reached the others.

"…Who knows," was all Yuri could say before they left the hidden village.

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that something is going to go wrong.

* * *

***Speaks incoherently for a moment* OH MY GOD THIS TOOK SO LONG! I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE! …And I can't believe that this story has almost 100 reviews. ABOUT 100! ! I LOVE YOU GUYS! ! *falls over in shock***

***held up a sign* 'Leave a review'.**

**(I don't own Lilium, never will; the song is the only thing from Elfen Lied that can only appear in this story. There's a very good reason why; but you'll see later on.)**


	19. Chapter 17

All of you people are awesome… Here's chapter 17!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing; NOTHING I TELL YOU! !**

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The walk to Ozette was uneventful, besides fighting against a few monsters (and most of them being wary of any other 'surprises' that might pop out during their return trek to the Gaoracchia Forest). When they were on a break, Yuri took the time to tell Repede what had happened up until they were reunited at Mizuho. He left out some…other things, regarding himself; but the dog just gave him a look. The dark haired male knew that Repede _knew_ he was hiding something. They've known each other for four years after all; and it's almost scary that the canine is a bit more…human than other dogs – but Repede is still a dog, all and all. He never considers himself a dog or a human; Repede is Repede.

The canine surprised most of the members of the group with his fighting prowess. It's actually pretty comical to see their reactions when they watch the warrior dog fight. Of course, Colette tried to pet the dog, but – like Estelle – he moved away from the blonde girl. The girl is determined to pet the dog, however; he briefly wondered when she's going to realize that she won't be able to pet him.

He was a bit surprised that Repede was willing to go near Regal; the man is practically the first to understand that the dog is more intelligent than most people gave him credit for. Perhaps that's good enough for Repede – the others are still a bit wary of the dog though. He's still isn't sure about Presea though; she hardly reacted to anything.

But when they first entered the village, Presea suddenly ran off.

"H-Hey!"

"Presea!" Both he and Gene called out when the girl ran off. The silver haired boy ran ahead of them, turning to them and exclaimed, "C'mon! We should follow her!"

"Alright," Lloyd nodded before they quickly followed the girl.

Except for Yuri, Rita, Regal, Repede and the Professor; who watched the others go. The dark haired male let out a sigh. "We're trying to keep a low profile here," he said, "I don't think running along in this place is a good idea."

"Yeah…" He looked over at Rita in surprise when she trailed off, a solemn look on her face. "Richter told me that the people of Ozette are suspicious of anyone that goes through here; however, they ostracized half-elves the most."

"…I heard that the Pope was born in Ozette," Regal spoke up, prompting them to look at the man.

"…Really?" Yuri let out, not at all surprised – somehow, he figured that was the case. "Well, that's nice."

The others made their way into the village, the dark haired male looking around for a moment as the village came into few. The village seemed to be situated onto a giant…tree of sort, the large canopy above them nearly covering the village. The place is…quiet.

Somehow, he didn't like this place. He didn't like this type of quiet. There's something…unsettling about this place.

"…those people following Presea?" He let out a grunt when his ears heard one of the people muttering to another.

"That girl always brings trouble to this village," another said, "She's such a monster, bringing people like them."

"…?" He let out, raising his brow at that (noticing a lot of people giving them unfriendly looks), but shook his head at it and resumed trying to follow Presea.

"What's with this place, anyway?" Rita spoke up, as he was searching for the others. "It looks like we're on a giant tree or something…"

"We are," Regal answered, and the two inhabitants of Terca Lumireis looked over at him in surprise. "This was once the original tree that supplied sacred wood. When the tree died, it hardened into a rocklike substance. Ozette was built here for convenience, since it's closest to the new sacred wood supply."

"…Huh," Yuri let out, impressed. "Where do they get sacred wood now?"

The blue haired man shook his head. "I'm not sure," he said, "The sacred grove is somewhere near this town, but it's kept a secret due to its importance."

Raine looked over her shoulder to look at the man. "You seem to know a lot about this town, Regal," she said, giving him a scrutinizing look.

The convict looked over at her and closed his eyes. "I…used to know someone who lived here."

"I see…" the female half-elf just said, looking at him with a frown.

Yuri looked over at the blue haired man for a bit, knowing the man's reason for helping them. "Well…we can't exactly pry for more info," he said, "He'll probably tell us more when he's more comfortable with us."

"…I suppose…" The silver haired woman muttered, narrowing her eyes a little.

"Hey, guys!" All heads turned to Gene, waving at them (with Lloyd and Colette with him) with one hand and the other was pointing toward a large branch that led down to a lower part of the village. "She went down here! C'mon! Zelos and Sheena went ahead!" After that the three youths ran down the path, towards the single roof resting at the bottom. He also noticed that smoke started to come out of the chimney of the roof.

The dark haired male raised a brow. Shouldn't there be someone else down there in that house?

He silently followed the others down the slope, leading to the lone house sitting at the very bottom of the village. It looked like a rather lonely place…

They found the five waiting for them at the porch, with Zelos leaning over the railing to look down at them. "Presea went inside after she talked to a strange guy earlier," he informed them, "So…we haven't gone in yet."

"Really?" Lloyd asked, looking over at the red haired Chosen in surprise. "What did this guy look like?"

"He looked pretty strange," Sheena answered this time. "He had purple, spikey hair, red tinted glasses, some green armor over an orange outfit… He just gave us a look before he left."

"…That sounds kinda like the guy we ran into back in Meltokio," Yuri said, remembering the strange man they had encountered all those weeks ago.

"Yes…" All eyes turned to Raine as she stepped forward a bit. "That man is a half-elf."

"Really?" Lloyd wasn't the only one who blinked in surprise at that.

'_Well, I guess that explains the ears,'_ Yuri thought.

"…Now that you mentioned it Yuri, we did see him in Meltokio," Lloyd said, rubbing his chin.

"Speaking of that guy, he felt kinda…off," Yuri spoke up, prompting all eyes to look at him as he rubbed his chin as well.

"What makes you say that?" Colette asked.

"It's a feeling I'm getting," Yuri just answered.

…Just as he had a weird feeling about Garista when he first met him back then, with Raven and Alexei when they encountered the ex-Commandant at Heliord. So far, they hadn't been wrong before.

"Hey," Gene spoke up, heading towards the door, "Maybe we should go check on Presea."

"Yes," Regal immediately agreed. "We've spent enough time out here."

Gene paused to glare at the man, prompting Yuri to let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't think that Regal was interested in Presea – but a lot of people can do stupid things out of rage, hate or jealousy. But they all followed the boy to the door, left cracked open-

A whine hit his ears and he turned to Repede, seeing the canine making a…look of what seemed to be disgust. The dark haired man went up to the dog and kneeled to his level. "What is it Repede?" He asked, rubbing the dog's head.

Repede looked over at him and whined. He seemed to understand the tone, as if he was saying, _"Something smells awful in there. I'm not going in."_

Yuri raised a brow and looked back at the house, seeing the others had already gone in. He looked back at his partner. "Alright Repede, stay out here and make sure no one tries to sneak up on us." They both knew it was unlikely, but it couldn't help to be careful.

The one eyed dog nodded, and so did Yuri before he went into the house.

The moment he stepped in, however, that something…awful hit his nose. He gagged and he quickly covered his nose. God-! What the hell is that smell?! It's so-!

He used both hands to cover his nose, and looked around. The others were having the same problem as he is…except for Presea, who just moved over to a table, placing a couple of vegetables there. His eyes shifted over to the old fashioned stove, a pot placed there; indicating that it seemed to be newly lit, and Presea is about to cook. How is she not affected by the smell? ?

He did a quick scan of the small room. It was surprisingly well kept, despite that horrible smell. There was what seemed to be a carving of…a bear, sitting at the corner, where wood shavings are lying around it. And there are other forms of wooden materials scattered around the house; some of them in the process of being formed.

"…How the hell is she not affect by this?" He heard Rita managed to get out, as Presea headed towards the door on the left.

The dark haired male made to follow her…and the stench got worse the closer he is to the room. He managed to peek in, seeing Presea moving towards what seemed to be a mound in the double bed at the far end.

"I'm making your favorite soup, Daddy," she said to the mound (making the man jerk; her father's in there?). "I'll make sure that its extra special now that I've just got home." She seemed to have paused, waiting for the mound to respond (like Yuri)…then nodded. "Ok, Daddy, I'll make it that way."

Yuri let out a confused grunt as Presea walked passed him. How come he didn't hear her father answer? His sensitive ears could've heard him-

A sense of dread went through him. Oh no.

He made an uneasy glance at the Professor, when she had walked beside him. She gave him a similar look, looking back at the mound. The Professor seemed to have hesitated before she headed towards it-

She suddenly stopped at a few meters, her hands over her mouth in horror. "Oh my-! How horrible…!"

He didn't want to know. He didn't want to see. …But he forced himself to, moving over to where Raine is-

"Oh God…!" He uttered, moving his hand to cover his mouth to prevent gagging. He was suddenly thankful that Estelle and Karol weren't with them; if they did… He shuddered, forcing himself to turn away from…the decaying corpse.

He heard everyone else come into the room, and heard their exclamations of shock. He tuned them out. He wanted to get out of here. He didn't want to look at the corpse any longer.

The dark haired man silently exited the room, heading towards the door, and pausing at the arch to look over at the girl, who was chopping the vegetables, scoping some of them up and headed towards the pot to dump them in.

His grey eyes lingered on the Exsphere mounted on her collar bone. He remembered what Kate had told them about the 'Angelus Project' done on her…

"_We call it the Angelus Project," Kate explained, her eyes cast down, as if in shame, "where, like I said earlier, the host body creates a Cruxis Crystal inside their body. The Exsphere itself is nothing special; it just has a special Key Crest placed on it. This Key Crest delays the Exsphere's parasitic process, which can take place over a few days or up to several decades. It seems this can cause Exspheres to mutate into Cruxis Crystals."_

_He glanced over at Presea, who seemed to be hiding behind a confused Colette. "I…was commissioned to carry out the experiment on subjects whose mana signature was in a specific range." He looked back at the blue haired half-elf, as she added, "Initially I merely thought that the Exsphere would simply strengthen the wearer during the process…but a short time after she was fitted with hers, Presea became as she is now."_

"_So, wait," Rita spoke up, "You're saying that the Exsphere on her caused her to be like this?"_

"_It seems so," Raine said. _

"_If we leave Presea like this," Colette spoke up, a worried tone in her voice, "what will happen to her?"_

_The half-elven woman before them looked over at Colette in surprise for a moment…then regained her composure a little, seeing the sad look again, as she answered in a somber tone:_

"_When the parasitic process is complete…she will die."_

_His heart skipped a beat. What?!_

"_Th-That's horrible!" Gene exclaimed, sounding outraged, "Please save her! What did she ever do to you?!"_

_Kate shook her head, he could feel the guilt radiating off of her. "…Nothing," she admitted, palming her face. "She… hasn't done anything; she just matched in the compatibility test."_

'Compatibility test…?'_ Yuri thought, raising a brow. He glanced over at Presea, then back at her. "You said that you'll release her from the project, right?" When she looked at him, he then asked, "Is there a way to save her?"_

"…_There is," she nodded, "In order to save Presea, speak to a dwarf named Altessa who lives near Ozette." He thought he heard Lloyd mutter something about 'dwarfs over here, too,' but he ignored it to listen to Kate. "He and I participated in the experiment by the order of the Pope…and he can tell you what must be done to fix her Key Crest."_

"_Oh geez," Zelos sighed, "not that pathetic old man again-"_

"_Don't call him a pathetic old man!" Kate's exclamation got everyone to look at her in surprise._

"…_Why are you defending him?" Zelos asked._

_The woman jerked and stubbornly turned her head. "I…I'm not defending him," she denied, then shook her head. "Anyway, have Altessa repair Presea's Key Crest."_

_Yuri had a feeling there was more to it than that…but he decided not to press it. He nodded. "We well, thanks." He said before they left…_

'…_Because of the parasitic effect of the Exsphere, she didn't even realize her old man's dead…'_ Yuri thought, looking at the girl solemnly.

How…how can people do that to other people? It-It isn't right.

He breathed out through his grimace and left the house, into fresh air.

Repede looked up at him as he moved over to where the dog is sitting, taking a seat next to him. "Hey," he said, "we just found out the source of the smell."

The dog made an inquiring whine, as if asking, _"Oh?"_

He nodded. "Yeah." After a moment, he added, "…Turns out to be Presea's dead dad."

The dog let out a sigh, as if saying, _"I see…"_

He heard the others leaving and looked up, hearing Raine saying, "-try to move her, she'll only fight back. We know Presea will still be here when we return."

"But-!" Lloyd looked like he wanted to protest.

He and Repede gave each other a look and they made their way over to the group. "What going on…?" He asked when they were within hearing range.

Zelos is the one to respond. "Well, the Professor's saying that we'll have to leave Rosebud here. It doesn't seem like she's keen to moving away from home anytime soon."

Yuri blinked at this and looked back at the house. …He isn't sure it's wise to leave the girl here. Especially with that weird purple haired guy that might still be hanging around.

…But what else can they do?

He heard Lloyd let out a sigh. "…All right. Let's hurry so that she doesn't have to be in there long."

"Yeah…" Gene said, sounding down. Not that he can blame him; he wished that he should've stopped the boy from seeing that…awful scene.

"…How can people do this to other people…?" He looked over at Rita in surprise, seeing her shake her head in disgust.

'_I wonder…'_ Yuri thought, thinking the same thing. He really did – are humans the true monsters…?

Yes…people are capable of doing these inhumane things if they have power. …Like Ragou, Cumore and Alexei.

He let out a sigh, and made a move to follow the others-

The dark haired male heard something thump behind him and he looked over to see Colette, wincing with pain; she reached to grip her shoulder for a second, before hurriedly pulling her hand away. He blinked. What-?

It seems he's not the only one who heard her fall. "Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed as he rushed to her side. "Hey, are you all right?"

She nodded. "Y-Yeah, I just stumbled…" She answered, smiling weakly as she slowly got to her feet again. She let out a giggle, before saying, "I'm pretty clumsy, aren't I?"

…For some reason, that giggle of hers seemed…off.

Again, he wasn't the only who noticed, as Lloyd asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she shook her head. He saw her smile wavering a little. "…I'm fine…"

He raised his brow as he and Lloyd stared at Colette for another second…before the red clad male reluctantly began to walk, looking over his shoulder at the girl. She just smiled – it looked…forced – and walked with the boy.

Yuri made to follow them…then paused, looking over his shoulder at the village above Presea's house. "…Why would they call Presea a monster…?" He asked himself, remembering what the two women had called the girl. He shook his head and followed the others.

_**~o~**_

Thank the spirits that Rita had asked Richter and Aster where Altessa lived before they left Sybak.

But…he honestly can't strike up a conversation with anyone. Not after…what they saw in Presea's house.

Dammit. The brunette didn't feel right leaving her behind…but she was adamant about staying home, to look after her 'daddy'… Lloyd honestly hopes that Altessa can help them.

It took them a while to reach the house, and it was around sunset when they did; a large, circular window and a door carved into the rock wall. He faintly remembers his dad – Dirk – having a house similar to this until he built the house they live in now. There are also what seemed to be…clothes pins outside, along with a drainpipe, a few minerals at in a box, a pair of lanterns at the sides of the door, and a small fence to the side.

"…This is where a dwarf lives?" Zelos was the first to break the silence when their eyes fell on it; he sounded pretty surprised. Though, Lloyd supposes that not a lot of people have ever met (or seen) a dwarf. The only ones that had are his two childhood friends and teacher.

"Seems like it," Yuri said, and the red clad boy looked over at the three from…Terla Lumirer (he had a feeling he still didn't get it right) for their reactions. Rita and Yuri had their brows raised at the home built into a cliff; he isn't sure with Repede however.

"Are there any dwarfs in Terca Lumireis?" Regal asked them (oh, so THAT'S how it's pronounced).

"Not really," Yuri answered, "There are only three races over at our world."

Oh, right, there are the humans and Kritya…wait a minute. He blinked, turning to the dark clad man. "…What's the third race?"

"It's not important," Rita answered this time, her tone short. From the time Lloyd had been around her (even if it was kinda short) he learned not to ask any more questions when her voice is like that.

"Well…okay," Lloyd let out, hesitantly.

"All right everyone," the Professor spoke up, "We have to be polite around this Altessa. We're not sure how different he is from Dirk, but, we can't afford to mess up Presea's chance to regain herself." The brunette noticed that the Professor was giving Yuri a look when she said that.

Yuri let out an exasperated sigh. "All right, all right," he said, waving a hand to wave it away, "I get the point. I'll behave."

The Professor nodded and they all walked over to the lone door, where the Professor knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened.

It wasn't the dwarf they were expecting. It was a young woman with pale green hair in a braid, wearing a type of dress that is dark brown with green designs on the hips, and white at the collar, bell sleeves, a pair of shoes (colored like her dress) and a hat of sort. She regarded them with a blank look in her green eyes.

…he could've sworn he heard Yuri inhale sharply upon seeing her…

"WHO IS IT?" He blinked; the way she talked is…strange. Somewhat like the voice that came from the computers at the ranches.

"Uh…" Lloyd let out, looking around a bit, and looked over the…woman again. "E-Excuse us, um, ma'am; we've heard that there is a dwarf living here. Is there any chance we could see him?"

She nodded. "I SEE…YOU DESIRE A MEETING WITH MASTER ALTESSA. PLEASE," she moved aside to allow room for them to come inside, "COME INSIDE."

"Th-Thank you," Lloyd said, before all of them filed into the house. He first saw the main room of the house, which has a large table in the middle, cleared for the moment. There are a couple of doors in front of them and to their right; from the door that he could see, it looks like the kitchen. The place actually looked big enough to fit a lot of people; that's probably because it had to hold in a lot of human sized people in here.

He looked over at the others, seeing the Professor (and Yuri?) following the strange girl further to the left. He went along with the two of them, going downstairs to where a small workshop is. Sitting there in a chair is…maybe the dwarf they had come for. He's around the same size as his dad, but with gray hair (indicating his age) spiked at the back, wearing a green type of tunic, and brown boots. He was only able to see the back, so he was unable to see the front.

The green haired woman walked up to the dwarf and stopped at a considerable distance from him. "MASTER, WE HAVE GUESTS," she told him.

He let out a grunt and looked over to them. His eyebrows are pretty large, nearly covering his eyes with a large gray beard (with the ends held separate by small hairbands), and a rather large nose. The dwarf pulled himself out of the chair, leaving his tools on the desk.

Lloyd took a quick glance, seeing Yuri's eyes had gotten pretty wide upon seeing the dwarf, and back at Altessa, just as he asked: "Who are you people?"

The boy tilted his head at this; why did he sound…wary of them? He shook his head and stepped forward.

"My name is Lloyd," he began, "We came here to ask you to help a girl named Presea. We heard about you from Kate in Sybak-"

"Leave!"

"Huh?" Lloyd let out in surprise at the demand.

Altessa shook his head and turned his back on them. "I don't want anything more to do with that girl! Get out!"

"Hey, wait a minute," Lloyd saw Yuri stepping forward, despite the Professor holding up her arm to stop him. "We came all the way here to ask you to help someone. You're just going to let her die?!"

The boy glanced back to the dwarf, who looked over at the dark haired man, staring at him for a moment. "…You resembled him."

"Huh?" He and Yuri let out, confused by what the dwarf said.

Altessa glanced away again. "Please…just leave. It…is for your own good. Show them out Tabatha."

"…UNDERSTOOD," the woman, Tabatha, nodded slowly, then she gestured for the three of them to leave the shop.

They left reluctantly; but when they reached the others, Lloyd crossed his arms, frustrated. "What the hell was that all about?!"

"What? What happened?" Genis asked, puzzled.

"He blew us off, is what," Yuri answered.

"Huh?" Most of them let out in surprise.

The Professor sighed. "The moment Presea's name came up he demanded we leave."

Tabatha came up to the front for all of them to see her. "I APOLOGIZE. THE MASTER DOES NOT WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH PRESEA."

"Why?!" Genies demanded. "He doesn't care if she dies?!"

To their surprise, she shook her head. "IT IS NOT THAT. IT IS BECAUSE THE MASTER REGRETS WHAT HE HAS DONE."

Colette stepped forward. "Then please, save Presea!" she pleaded. "All she needs is for her Key Crest to be fixed."

The woman looked over at her. "…I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT WOULD TRULY BE IN HER BEST INTEREST."

"Why?" Lloyd asked, "How could anything be worse than living in that cruel condition while waiting to die?!"

"He has a point," Yuri spoke up, and the woman looked over at him. "What happened with Presea is just inhumane. Doesn't she deserve her life back?"

The woman looked down at the ground for a moment, as if contemplating something…then looked back over them. "…IF YOU ARE THAT COMMITTED, THEN YOU SHOULD SEARCH FOR INHIBITOR ORE."

At that, Lloyd blinked. "Her Key Crest isn't made out of Inhibitor Ore?

She nodded. "CORRECT. HER CREST IS-"

"Tabatha!" Altessa shouted, and all heads turned to where the workshop is, "What are you doing? I told you to get rid of them!"

Tabatha slowly nodded, and looked back at them. "I APOLOGIZE; I MUST DO WHAT I AM ASKED TO DO."

"Okay, okay, we'll leave," Yuri said with a sigh.

Once all of them are outside, Tabatha was about to close the door…then paused. She looked over them, and said, "PLEASE COME BACK AGAIN. I WILL ATTEMPT TO PERSUADE HIM." With that, she closed the door.

"Well, that went well," Yuri said once they were at a certain distance from the house.

"But we've stumbled upon a bigger problem," the Professor spoke up, and they turned to her.

"…Yeah," Lloyd frowned. "I think Dad knows where to find it, but…that's in Sylvarant."

Sheena shook her head, sighing as she ran her hand through her bangs. "We only just asked Mizuho to locate the Rheairds, so I doubt we'll have much luck with that."

"Then, where could we find Inhibitor Ore?" Colette asked, sounding worried.

"…If I may," they all turned their heads to Regal when he spoke up. "I've heard it's mined in the mountain range that extends between Altamira and the Ymir Forest. I would like to help if you're going to make a Key Crest for Presea. I can lead you to the mine."

Only Lloyd, Colette and Yuri knew the real reason why Regal is helping them. The Professor narrowed her eyes a little at the man-

Until Zelos ruined the moment with: "You said Altamira, right?" He looked over at the red haired man, seeing him grinning. "That place is awesome! We should stop by there on the way!"

He let out a yelp of pain when Sheena smacked him. "We're _not_ paying a visit to some gaudy resort!" She shouted at him. "This isn't a field trip!"

"Ow…Sheena~!" He whined.

…Moving on. The boy looked back at Regal. "Well…you've helped us out a lot so far. We'd appreciate it if you can help us out some more."

"I understand," the blue haired man nodded. "The Inhibitor Ore is found relatively near the surface of the Exsphere mine. The mine I know of is across the sea from here, on the southern continent."

"The sea…?" He heard the Professor mutter to herself. "We're going out to sea again…?"

"…Should we really go to the mines right now?" Yuri asked, and all heads turned to him, himself looking up at the sky. "We probably won't be able to get there until later."

"Uh- Y-Yes!" The Professor immediately agreed. "It's going to be dark soon. We should head back to Ozette; we'll be able to set out in the morning."

"Oh, um, okay," Lloyd nodded. He remembered that the Professor is scared of water. They soon left the area to head back to Ozette; it's been a long day after all.

Later that night, after getting more supplies (since they were running low) Lloyd somehow convinced the others to let Yuri cook dinner. The 'mabo curry' he made was _delicious_.

However…

When they were heading to bed (each person sharing a room or having a room to themselves – the Professor has a room to herself), since he and Yuri are sharing a room, there's something that he wanted to ask Yuri about.

Once they're alone in the room, he looked over at the dark haired man. "Hey, Yuri, can I ask you something real quick?"

Said man let out a small grunt and looked over at him. "What is it?"

"…Back at the forest yesterday morning, where we met that strange woman…is she talking about you, about getting too powerful?" He wanted to know what Yuri knew about the time he and Colette wasn't with him.

The dark haired male looked over at him with a surprised look…then sighed, sitting on the bed, and looking at…nothing. "…Yeah. She was," he confirmed. "But, some of the things she said doesn't… make sense. She said that Cruxis is her enemy, and there are others like her. And she said something about me being 'kin' and the other 'kinsmen'; and us not hating our fathers for being 'angels'. And it's not only that…she wanted to kill me because she said my father is one of the three strongest 'angels' in existence. She didn't want to risk me becoming…'corrupted'."

At that, Lloyd didn't know what to say about that. There are more people like that woman around? Why would she want Yuri dead? For the same reason Kratos (and possibly Cruxis) does? Dammit…there are so many questions that he doesn't know the answer to.

Everything was so…simple back then. He wanted help Colette regenerate the world – he thought it was a simple task…he soon learned that _nothing_ is simple… He knew that it won't be easy to save both worlds from Cruxis, and the other Chosen from suffering the cruel fate Colette nearly went through.

The boy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well…I don't think we'll find the answers right now…" He muttered, knowing that the man can hear him. "Let's do what we can, for now…"

"Yeah…we have to head to the mines for the Inhibitor Ore," Yuri nodded. "We should get our shut eye. From what I heard Raine and Regal said, it might take a week to get to those mines."

"…aw man…" Lloyd muttered, rubbing his face. A few hours in from the Meltokio side to the Sybak side is one thing…he doesn't think he can last a _week_ to get over there…

Oh well; simple isn't easy. Nothing is easy in life, after all. And that's a fact.

The next morning, the group left Ozette (and Presea) behind, to the Toize Valley Mine.

…It's going to be a _long_ week. He can feel it.

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***Humming a ditty to herself, smiling.***

**Lloyd: "…What are you so happy about?"**

**Ah, Lloydie; I'm simply happy that Angels of Stars is one of my most popular stories to date! 106 reviews! I'm so happy that everyone liked it! Sklee!**

**Karol: "But…aren't you also working on another story? Like your 'self-insert' story?**

… ***stares at the young guild leader* …I should probably work on it now… *walks off to do so***

**Yuri: "Well, that was…eventful."**

**Colette: *grins* "Leave a review everyone! The authoress would love for you to do it."**


	20. Chapter 18

Time to explore the mines; then the group encounters one of the pricks I hate in Tales of Symphonia. Let's do this.

**Disclaimer: I own this story; Symphonia and Vesperia belong to their respective owners.**

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It has been a long week to get to the mines. He hadn't been there for a while since…THAT incident so may years ago. But he had to come back here, to help Alicia's sister.

The ride wasn't pleasant, especially since they can't move much in the EC. But the others tried to keep themselves occupied with small games (like the word game where you start a word that begins with the last letter of the word used), or trying to take a nap.

…In the time that he had spent with them, he found that each of them are rather…unique.

He remembered the Chosen of Tethe'alla back when the man was a child, at Princess Hilda's birthday. He never imagined that he would turn out like this…but he _had_ heard that his mother was murdered by a half-elf…perhaps the boy was traumatized, but he isn't sure.

The half-elven siblings are…interesting. The eldest, Raine Sage, seems incredibly smart…with an unhealthy obsession with ruins (was there something that happened in her childhood that caused her to be like this?) and terrified of water. The youngest, Genis, is an expert at cooking and pretty good at magic. He can also tell that he has a crush on Presea…but he can't help but feel that there's…more, to the girl than meets the eye.

The Chosen of Sylvarant is…well, not what he expected. Of course, that's perhaps the prejudice the people in Tethe'alla have with the people of Sylvarant, since it's been in decline for 800 years. For one, she's too sweet, somewhat…airy but she accepts people with a smile. He can tell that the girl has a rather strong will, and loved her friends.

Lloyd is a rather…interesting boy. He's knowledgeable about Dwarves and of their ways (he heard him and Yuri talking about his adoptive father, who was a Dwarf) but…there's a need for improvement upstairs. The boy has a heart of gold, something he admires.

Then there are the people from Terca Lumireis. They came from an entirely different world from theirs, filled with 'Aer', 'Blastia' and such. How they (and perhaps some others) have gotten to this world, he doesn't really know – the group isn't telling him a lot of things, such as the REAL reason why the Sylvaranti are in Tethe'alla. Perhaps something had happened over in Sylvarant? He isn't sure.

Rita has shown she's intelligent (like Raine) yet her temper is as fiery as her magic (which came as a surprise to him; humans being able to use magic – those that could do that has a bit of elven blood in their ancestry, and there are no elves in their world).

Again, Repede is an intelligent canine – for a dog to understand another language (which should've been used by humans) and to use weapons instead of jaws and claws…it was as if the dog was a cross between a human and a dog. Not a dog, but also not a human. If Yuri did raise him…yet he did create a tough fighter.

As for Yuri…the man is strange. He is rather hostile towards him at first, but perhaps that was because he had to protect Lloyd and Colette since the others weren't around at the time. After a while, however, the ex-President can see that the man is quite skilled with a sword…and an improvisionist. Whenever he fights, he improvises most of his Artes – the man can tell that the young man favors speed and power over everything. And Yuri can be quite perspective when he wants to be.

…Though, on some nights, he could've sworn he saw a bluish-purple light over the EC…the same color as-

No. He respects the young man's decision to not tell anyone about it. Yuri didn't pry into his live much…so he won't do the same as he does. But, still…something doesn't make sense…

Regal shoved it to the back of his mind – they have more important things to worry about right now. Saving Presea from her Exsphere is more important.

On the eighth day, they all stopped for the final time; it was about mid-day to later afternoon when they arrived. The blue haired man took a look outside via the hatch. Yes…he recognized the landscape. The mines shouldn't be too far now. "We're here; the Toize Valley Mine is just ahead," he reported to them. He heard all of them let out a sigh of relief; he doesn't blame them. It's been a long ride after all.

Once they exited the EC (with the Chosen of Tethe'alla putting it back into the Wingpack) he led them to the mines. It took about twenty minutes of walking to reach the mines. To most people, it looked like a regular cave from the outside – but his visits to the mine (as per inspection) he knew it was more. Inside they go in, and it wasn't long until they saw electric lights lining the walls. Some of them had to walk alongside the track running down the center of the path. His blue eyes trailed over the metal tracks. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands a little. To think that Alicia and her sister became victims to these…these _things_!

He forced himself to look forward again – he can't think about the past now. They need to find Inhibitor Ore.

After a while, they found themselves in a large room he remembers. The large metal door should be able to keep intruders out of the mines – just because he agreed to let Vharley have access to the mines…he isn't going to give the man THIS one.

"Wow! So this is that sealed mine!" The red haired Chosen remarked. "It looks like it might house a ghost or two-"

"GHOST?!"

…All eyes (except for Yuri and Repede) turned to Rita who had let out that cry. The girl had noticeably gone pale, and her body had gone stiff.

"…Rita?" Colette asked, tilting her head at the red clad female.

The red haired man poked her a little. "Huh, seems like Miss Irritable is afraid of something after all," he noted.

The girl jerked and punched the male Chosen in the stomach (with him falling to the ground). "SHUT THE HELL UP!" She yelled at the downed man.

"Wh-What? What did I do? ?" The man exclaimed, in pain.

'…_Such a violent girl…'_ He thought as he looked back at the door-

His eyes widened when he noticed that the machine around the gate began to move on its own, the large metallic arms unfolded and remained poised menacingly. That wasn't the thing that disturbed him – it was the fact that parts of it were letting out sparks…as if someone had damaged it. If so, then…

"…This isn't good," he said, tensing his muscles.

"What's wrong Regal?" Lloyd asked him; it seemed that they hadn't noticed the same problem as he does.

"…Is it supposed to spark like that?" Hmm, seems like Yuri was the first of the others to notice.

He felt all eyes on him and the gate, and he answered, "The door's guard system is out of control. Someone must have destroyed it when trying to force their way through." Yet the question is, who?

"…Is there a way to fix it?" Genis asked, sounding wary.

He shook his head. "There might be a way, but it would be time consuming and risky…and there is still no guarantee the door will open for it afterwards. And destroying it some more will make the gates permanently seal shut for good."

He heard Lloyd curse as he snapped his fingers. The young swordsman must be thinking of suggesting that plan.

"Then what the hell are supposed to do?!" Rita questioned.

Regal quickly looked around to search for it-

There!

"Try to hold it off for as long as you can," he told them, "I'll try to manually deactivate it."

"Wha-?"

He heard Colette let out a scream as one of the arms decided to strike out and they all managed to dodge in time; but the impact shook the room (making some of them fall to the ground) and some stalactites fell to the ground.

"Hoo…nearly lost my manhood…" …He did not want to hear that from Zelos. Nor see what the Chosen of Tethe'alla was talking about.

He quickly got to his feet and two orbits came from the sides of the arms. The blue haired man bit back a curse – dammit, the defense system now considers them a threat. He has no choice but to fight now.

He had to, in order to get to the main power supply.

To be frank, the battle was, in short, insane. The arms tried everything they could to smash them into the dirt, and the orbits are (he had to admit) annoying. Not to mention the automated repair unit continued to repair the parts that were damaged by them. Again, it was annoying.

It was until – with quick thinking on Yuri's part – that the dark haired man decided to attack the repair unit with a Shining Fang, damaging it to the point where it stopped working for a moment. At that, the others soon took down the orbits, with Rita using Demon's Lance to destroy one of the inner arms, with Genis using Flame Lance to take out the other.

Regal quickly ran over to the door, dodging the outer arms with ease and he pried them open as much as his muscles could. He then squeezed through the opening and quickly found the breaker switch. He quickly pressed all of the buttons off, and two great thuds from the arms outside signals that the entire system had been deactivated. He sighed in relief and came back into view for the others, some of them panting.

"I've just cut the power supply to the door system," he told them, "We won't have any more trouble with it, it's completely disabled..."

They all sighed in relief. "Damn, that was annoying…" Yuri said, sheathing his sword…he'll have to ask the young man on how he managed to find the scabbard after tossing it away like that later.

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that," Rita said, frowning in annoyance.

Lloyd walked over to one side of the door and looked over it. "So…we should be able to get through, right?"

The blue haired man nodded. "Correct," he said.

Raine just gave the doors a look over with a scrutinizing look. "…We need to pry the doors open some more," she said, "Not all of us could fit through there…"

"Relax Professor," Zelos waved off the worry, smiling. "It'll be fine. Who else will try to come through here?"

She isn't convinced. "I'm not so sure…"

"Well," Yuri piped up, "how about we pry it open a little? Just enough for some of us to get through; then, we'll make the gap of the doors small enough so that no one would try to get in. Is that good enough, Professor?"

She let out a hum, weighing the options in her head…then sighed. "All right…but we'll have to locate the Inhibitor Ore quickly; we can't let anyone else have access to the Exspheres in here…assuming that they _are_ mined here."

There was a strange…tone in her voice when she last part. But…he's ashamed that this place is one of the three mines owned by his company; he knew well enough that Exspheres are dangerous, even though he was provided one for his mission from the Pope (where did he get it, anyway?).

He didn't speak out loud, and nodded, moving away from the doors. "Please hurry," he said. "The area where Inhibitor Ore can be excavated is at the eastern side of the mines." At that, they nodded and some of the men began to work on the door.

It took a few minutes for the group outside to pry open the door a bit wider, but they managed to do so, and they all proceeded into the mines. He had to say, it's been a while since he had last been inside the mines. The fluorescent lights hanging on the walls used to be so bright back then – but now they're reaching the end of their days; some of them are dim, and some flickered as they passed. But they still light their way in the mines, regardless.

"What's that noise?" Lloyd questioned after a few minutes of walking.

"That would be the lights," the blue haired man answered, if the boy is asking about the hum they gave off.

"The lights?" The boy asked, confused.

The ex-nobleman nodded. "They are called Fluorescents. Fluorescent lights have a part called a ballast that is used to control the amount of electric current flowing into the bulb. This always creates a humming noise to some degree, though it's worse in lights like this than those designed for home use."

"Huh," Rita let out, impressed. "If we had those, we probably won't need to use Blastia to light caves and houses and stuff."

"Gee Miss Irritable," the red haired Chosen spoke up, "I'd thought you'd be all over Blastia and stuff like that."

Silence went by for a moment. "Whoa, Rita didn't explode on Zelos for once," Genis spoke up, as if in awe.

"…Is everything okay Rita?" Regal sneaked a peek over at the young female mage when Colette asked her.

The girl seemed to have a sorrowful look on her…along with Yuri and Repede. Finally, the red clad girl looked up. "…There's a reason why I'm not 'flipping out' about it," she said. "A _very _good reason."

"What's that?" Lloyd asked.

Yuri shook his head. "Let's not worry about that now," he said, "We need to find that ore to save Presea, right? So let's get going."

The dark haired man walked a bit faster, along with Rita, as if to avoid any more conversations about Blastia. …It was as if there was something they don't like to discuss; perhaps something had happened over at their world as well. He couldn't ask what though – Yuri didn't pry into his life, so he won't pry into his life as well.

It seemed the others (although reluctantly) dropped the conversation as well, and they resumed their trek towards the eastern side of the mines.

It was when they came across a surprise.

Littering the floor at random areas, are shattered, sliced in half pieces of stone. All of them are dark blue…and there is one, spherical gem lying on the floor. Yuri went over to it and picked it up. "What's this?" He asked, turning it over in his hand.

"Th-That's an Exsphere Yuri!" Lloyd exclaimed, sounding shocked.

"What? That thing's an Exsphere?" Rita questioned, moving over to the dark clad male to look over the stone in the man's hands.

"I see…so this really is an Exsphere mine…" The blue haired man heard the female half-elf mutter to herself.

Regal had never felt so confused in his life. "Forgive me but…why are you negative about the Exspheres?"

Some of the others looked over to him, and looked at each other. Raine then sighed. "I suppose we should tell Regal the truth; he deserves this much."

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded solemnly. The convict had a feeling that whatever they might tell him, won't be pleasant.

It truly isn't.

They had told him about what Exspheres had done to people if left attached to them without a Key Crest. In the declining world, the Desians placed them on people who were held captive in the Human Ranches, nearly work them to death or find other ways to torture them to make them break; and while their hosts suffer, the stones absorb their Mana. If left on there for too long, the person can't live without the Exsphere…and eventually die. But there are times when the Exsphere is ripped off of their host and, if they were lucky, then they would die; if they didn't…the Mana in their bodies will go out of control…and they turn into monsters. Like Alicia.

When they were done, he was in shock. "…You're saying that Exspheres are charged by using human lives? ?" The weight of the Exsphere under his handcuff suddenly became heavy. Whose life was used to charge the one he's using? ?

"Yeah…" Zelos rubbed the back of his head at this. "I…didn't know about that as well, until they told me…"

"You didn't even react at all back at that godforsaken bridge!" Genis shouted at the man, "Don't you ever care about anything else but yourself?!"

Zelos turned his ice blue gaze over to the boy. "How the hell do you expect me to react, huh?" He asked (and there was a tone in his voice that sounded like he's angry). "Just because I didn't react at all doesn't mean that I don't care. It's just…I dunno, I guess I was in shock is all."

The man couldn't help but feel that there was more…but he can't say for certain. The blue haired man thought back to what they had said about the Exspheres. To think that the Exsphere brokers have known…does Vharley know as well?

If so, then how could he-?

"Hey, you losers!"

Regal let out a confused grunt, along with Lloyd letting out a "What the…?" as they all looked around for the source of the voice.

"Down here!"

They all looked and…

"The hell…?" Yuri let out, pretty much voicing out what they were all thinking. It was a tiny…thing. It was actually hard to describe, to be honest. It looked humanoid, wearing a blue pointed at, thin oval shaped eyes…it was looking up at them.

"What exactly is it?" Genis asked, bewildered.

Somehow, the small creature managed to _glare_ at the boy. "Whaddaya mean, 'what exactly is it'? You should watch it kid!"

"It's not very civilized…" Lloyd muttered.

The ex-noble noticed the elder half-elf kneeling to look at the creature closer. "Fascinating…" She murmured, "It matches the descriptions I've read completely! This must be a gnomelette! To see one in person, like this…"

"A…gnomelette?" Rita repeated in confusion.

Regal answered her. "Supposedly, gnomelettes are said to be helpers of the Summon Spirit of the Earth, Gnome."

…He could've sworn he heard Yuri mutter "Gnome…" softly to himself, sounding as if he had heard of that name before…

"Anyways, what are you lot doing here?" The gnomelette asked them, "A weird guy came by earlier and destroyed the stones that were in those carts. He felt weird…" he pointed at Yuri (who seemed distracted) when he added, "like that guy."

"Huh?" Lloyd asked, looking over the gnomelette in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Not telling." The man can see that some of them gave the gnomelette a look when he said that.

"O…kay, what's a gnomelette doing here anyway?" Sheena decided to ask him.

The gnomelette looked over at her (staring at her for a few moments) before answering, "I'm on a journey to find and eat some potion!"

They all stared at him (again). "…'Eat'?" Colette repeated in confusion. "Are you sure you're talking about potion?"

"Yeah!" The gnomelette nodded seriously. "It's something that's only for adults that make them feel good!"

"…It seems he really does mean potion," Raine muttered, giving the gnomelette a strange look.

"You guys have any on you?" …Regal noticed Zelos shifting a bit when the gnomelette asked them that.

Seems he wasn't the only one who noticed as Yuri (who seemed to be back with them from where his mind went off to) asked, "Zelos, what do you have?"

"W-What? What are you talking about?" The red haired Chosen stammered, looking nervous. "I'm not carrying anything suspicious, honest!" The man's eyes shifted as he spoke.

Most of them didn't seem convinced. Raine glanced over to Yuri and simply said, "Restrain him."

"All right," the dark haired man simply said and was quick to be behind the man and put him into a lock, preventing the red haired man from using his arms.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea?! Lemme go!" The red haired Chosen exclaimed, trying to get out of Yuri's hold, as the Professor and Sheena stalked over to the red head. "W-Wait a minute, ladies, I-" he let out a strange sound and the two females began to prod the man for whatever he might have…

…As he and the others watched on, the ex-President having a bemused look on his face.

Finally, Sheena pulled out a small bottle from one of the pockets Zelos had on him. She glared at it and looked over at the man. "Why do you have Mizuho Potion in your pocket?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Uh…" Zelos shifted his eyes again, as if he has no idea how to answer. "Well…I wanted to at least have something with a lady friend along the way, and-"

"Rita-"

"On it," the red clad girl grinned (cutting off Sheena) as she popped her knuckles, ignoring the male Chosen's pleas for mercy.

Regal (and some of the others) turned away from the scene, looking back at the gnomelette, seeing the small creature tilting its head a little at them. "You guys sure are a violent bunch," he said.

"Nah, that's kinda how Rita is," Yuri told him, having moved away to avoid the beat down the male Chosen is getting from the red clad girl and purple clad woman (all of them hearing his screams of pain). "Word of advice, don't piss her off; you wouldn't like a Fireball to your face."

…The blue haired man had a feeling the black clad man went through something like that.

A few minutes later, a satisfied young woman handed the Mizuho Potion over to the gnomelette. "Here you are, Mizuho Potion."

The gnomelette took the bottle from her hand, and looked over it. "This is potion? Whoa! You losers did a good job!" The gnomelette then brought the bottle to its face and-

…Regal was pretty sure he wasn't the only one staring in disbelief at the gnomelette actually ate the potion. The glass crunching even made some of them wince a little.

"…He actually ate the bottle…" Lloyd breathed out, all of them staring at the creature when it was finished.

It didn't look pleased. "That's it?! It doesn't taste like anything I thought it would!"

"What do you expect?" Yuri asked it, "You're supposed to _drink_ it, not _eat_ it."

"Bah! Who cares?" The gnomelette waved it off and turned around. "I'm outta here! Later." They all watched as it walked over to a rather large crack in a stone wall nearby, disappearing from sight when it went through.

They stood there for a few moments.

"O…kay…" Lloyd finally said, scratching his head a little. "What the heck was that all about?"

"No idea," Yuri said, putting a hand on his hip. He looked over at Regal, asking, "Is the Inhibitor Ore far?"

The convict shook his head. "No," he answered, "It's actually just ahead."

"All right then," Lloyd nodded. "Lead on Regal." It seems that everyone wanted to forget about what they had just witnessed.

As they walked, Raine then spoke up. "What did that gnomelette mean? Who else knows about the mines here?"

…To be honest, he was wondering about that as well. Amongst other things the creature had said – about the man feeling…funny, like Yuri. Why destroy the Exspheres back there?

"…I'm not sure," he answered, completely honest.

"Well, whoever they are, at least no one else would get those Exspheres," Zelos spoke up (the man using a lot of First Aids to heal the bruises Rita and Sheena left on him).

…Indeed.

A few minutes later, after crossing a bridge that runs by a waterfall, they soon came upon an area that he remembers where Inhibitor Ore is mined. Looking around a bit, he turned to them. "This is where Inhibitor Ore can be found."

Lloyd walked forward a little, looking around. When he looked in a direction, he paused and quickly made his way over to it, the others soon following. They came upon a wall with a faint line in it, the line a dull gold color. He took off his gloves and brushed some of the dirt away. "Yeah, this is Inhibitor Ore alright," the boy said, nodding.

"That's great and all, but how are we going to get it?" Rita asked.

"What are these boxes here?" They all looked over to Colette when she asked, seeing her walking over to some boxes-

She let out a yelp (when she tripped over a rock), falling over, and he couldn't help but wince when she collided into the box – and due to the fact that some of them were rotting, it fell apart. She let out an "Oww…" as a couple of chisels and hammers are scattered around her.

"…Well, that's…convenient," Yuri let out after a moment (as if he isn't sure what to make of Colette's accident), while Lloyd rushes over to the girl.

"Colette, are you okay?" He asked as he helped her up.

She nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay." The young blonde glanced down, bent over and picked up a chisel and a hammer, holding them out to the boy. "Will these do?"

"Uh…yeah, they will actually," the boy nodded, taking them from her. "Thanks Colette."

He turned to the others. "It'll take a while to get a piece of the ore out of the vein, and some more time to carve the charm into the ore," he told them.

"What'cha mean?" Zelos asked.

"See, only Dwarves can bend the ore into the Key Crest right," Lloyd explained, "But I think I can carve a charm into it; since Presea already has a Key Crest, all I need to do is to bend the ore so that it'll fit around her Exsphere."

"So, you'll carve a charm into the ore, and it'll serve as a better Key Crest than the one she has already?" Yuri summarized what Lloyd had told them.

The boy nodded. "Yeah," he then went over to the vein and began to break a piece of the metal free. "Like I said, it'll take me a while to get this out and to carve a charm into it."

"Alright Lloyd," the Professor said, "Take all the time you need."

They spent perhaps an hour waiting on Lloyd to make the Key Crest (a few minutes to get the ore out, and nearly half an hour to smooth it out – with some fire magic from Genis and Rita – and carving a charm into the ore). Some of the others spread out as they all waited for the boy to finish his work. Regal sat away from the others (as most of them still don't trust him; but that's understandable), waiting patiently for the Key Crest to be finished. He watched some of the others as they interact with each other.

Yuri and Rita seemed to be talking about something near the waterfall, yet he couldn't hear what they are talking about. He is not the kind of man to pry into people's business…but he could've sworn they said something about 'Estelle' and 'Child of the Full Moon'.

Looking over to Colette and Repede, the white clad girl is _still_ trying to pet the dog, but, as always, the dog merely dodges her. Yet she still keeps trying. He made a soft smile and shook his head.

He heard a smack and saw Zelos rubbing his cheek as Sheena glared at the man, clenching her fist. The man blinked; what did the Chosen do this time? He decided not to ask.

Regal then looked over to the Sage siblings, Genis giving his sister simple instructions on how to make a sandwich…properly. He held back a gag – how is it possible for chicken to taste like _fish_? He had _never_ met anyone who can cook like that – he's actually terrified on how she would make _cookies_…

He never wanted to have anything cooked by Raine Sage ever again.

Soon, Lloyd is done. It…actually _looked_ like a Key Crest. "Hey, not bad Lloyd," Zelos said, looking over it.

"It actually looked like one…" Regal let out, impressed.

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, I think this will do for now," he said, "Later, once Presea has returned to her normal self, let's have Dad or Altessa make a real one."

"Well, fair enough I suppose," Yuri said.

"Let's get out of here," Genis suggested, "This place gives me the creeps."

Regal nodded. "Indeed. Let's return to Ozette; it is unbearable to leave Presea in that house steeped with the stench of death."

Lloyd nodded solemnly. "Yeah…"

They all made their way back to the entrance to the mines. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any more trouble.

But when they were making their way towards the gate, he heard a familiar voice that made him stop dead in his tracks. "…No good," it said, "No Exspheres around here, either…"

"Huh?" Colette let out, her angelic hearing having heard the voice. "There's someone else here."

It can't be…

"What do you expect?" They heard another voice ask. "Some of the Exspheres are destroyed." The group gave each other a look and silently made their way to the gate and peaked out from behind the corner to see…

"Hey, haven't we seen that guy before?" Lloyd quietly asked, seeing a few knights around a familiar man.

"Yeah…" Yuri muttered, "We saw him talking with Presea…" Regal looked over at the dark haired man in shock. First that strange purple haired man the others claimed that had spoken to Presea and now Vharley is involved with her?

The fat man made a "Tsk" grunt, and the blue haired man looked back at him. "We can't get even deeper into the mines. We'll have to search somewhere else."

The man turned his back to them to leave-

He snapped.

In his rage, he barely registered the others calling out to him, barely registering himself darting forward and jumping into the air and lashed out his leg-

He heard Vharley screaming as the ground where he once was shattered, a crater forming where the heel of his foot made impact. His blue eyes glared over at the man as he tumbled a little, and pushed himself up to sit up, just as Regal straightened himself out.

The obese man let out a yelp upon seeing him. "R-Regal?! What are you doing here?"

The other man narrowed his eyes at the Exsphere broker. "I should be asking you the same, _Vharley_," he spat out his name, "Why has the Pope let you remain free? That is not what I agreed to!"

The man on the ground has the nerve to laugh. "Do you honestly think the Pope would keep a promise to a murderer?" He barked out a laugh. "You didn't even keep your side of the bargain and bring us the Sylvaranti Chosen! You joined with them instead!"

Regal's glare made the man before him curl away in fear. He _knew_ something isn't right! That look of shock in the Pope's eyes…he should've known that pompous man wouldn't keep his word! Damn that Pope!

He clenched his hands, nearly tight enough to puncture his skin, gritting his teeth in anger of the man before him. "If the Pope will not fulfill his promise…_then I will punish you myself_!" He was about to do the deed-

Until two pairs of arms grabbed his own arms and a hand was placed over his right shoulder. "Take it easy," Yuri told him, the blue haired man looking over at the dark clad male, and back at Vharley, the man running away with the knights (the former in fear). "He's not worth it."

…Right.

The man sighed with a shudder, rubbing his face a little once the hands left him. To think, he had almost killed Vharley…if he had, he would be no better than that Exsphere broker…

"Who…is that man…?" He heard Colette let out as he was calming himself down.

"That was Vharley…the Exsphere broker," the tone in Zelos' voice told the man that the red haired Chosen doesn't like the Exsphere broker as much as well; as he answered Colette's question.

"And what exactly does he mean by what he said about you Regal?" He glanced over at Lloyd when he asked that.

"Yeah, he called you a murderer…" Genis' voice sounded soft, as he felt the boy's eyes on him.

He glanced back down at the ground, feeling their eyes on him. The martial artist let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "I…am a prisoner serving time for the crime of murder. I won't blame you if you look down on me."

"What exactly happened?" Yuri asked.

Regal just shook his head. "Explaining would be an excuse," he said. "I committed a crime. That's…all that needs to be said."

Everyone had gone silent after his words. Then he heard: "Yuri?"

He looked up to see the dark haired male staring at the Exsphere in his hand…then curled his fingers around it and-

"What are you doing? ?" Regal stared in shock at Raine's startled exclamation when Yuri crushed the stone in his hand. The man uncurled his fingers, the Exsphere shattered in the palm of his hand, and a bit of blood came out of the wound, covering the stone a little and some of it dripped to the ground. Yuri let the shattered stone fall from his hand, then the fingers curled again and-

The martial artist felt his fist collide with his cheek, but he stayed up straight, looking over at the dark haired male who had just punched him. "In a way, you're right," he said, ignoring his bloodied hand as he put it on his hip. "Committing a crime of any kind…there is no excuse for it. There are a lot of things that I've done back then, and some of the things I should've done four years ago still haunts me. I was…powerless to save two people that matter to me."

All eyes are on Yuri, though Repede whined a little. "I also committed the same sin you probably did, on two people that abused their power to hurt others," he added, glaring away at something. "I hated that. I can't stand seeing people suffering in front of me – especially those that are my friends. I also killed others, but only for defense. So…" he looked back at the blue haired man, "I guess we're on the same boat."

"Yeah…" Lloyd spoke up, and Regal looked over at the boy as he stepped forward. "My stupid actions have killed many people. And I know what you've done won't just go away… but if you're suffering, it's all right to say so."

He looked over to Genis, when he heard him stepping forward, his eyes on the ground a little, then he looked up at the man. "They're right," he said, solemnly, "I…I understand."

Regal raised his brow in confusion. "What do you understand?"

"I…I'm a murder, too," the boy explained. "I've…killed lots of people. So…I may not know what happened, or why you did it…I won't judge you for it."

The martial artist looked over the three males that had spoken, then bowed his head. "…I apologize. Perhaps someday I will have the chance to tell the story, but…"

"It's okay," Lloyd told him, "Take all the time you need."

The man nodded at the boy in front of him. "Thank you…"

The walk out of the mines, to the dock and the time they spent on the EC back to Ozette was quiet…

…Except for Yuri getting reprimanded by Raine for doing something like crushing an Exsphere in his hand…

Yet the martial artist felt that something is going to happen. He isn't sure what it is though…

* * *

**Ho. Ly. SHIT! A whole chapter that focused on one person! DAMN! …Since, you know, Regal only had one chapter that has a bit of his point of view in it. The part where Regal confessed, along with Yuri, Lloyd and Genis telling him that it's okay, they won't judge him; I used Aqua's theme from Kingdom Hearts to do that scene. By the way, did I make Regal OOC in here?**

**Raven: "Well, it's understandable; the rage against the guy responsible for his lover's death would make ANYONE snap."**

**Mmm…yeeesss. That is true… *smiles evilly***

***most of the characters from Tales of Symphonia and Vesperia looked uneasy by the smile. Except Judith.***

**Judith: "Ooh, I feel a plot twist in the future." *looks over to the reader* "Go ahead and leave a review if you want."**

**Flynn: "Flames will be used to burn the fuel for the other people's need for Tales of Xillia."**

**Karol: "Say, the game comes out this August, right?"**

***suddenly hyped* I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT! ! ! ! ! ! *knocked out by a Pow Hammer***

**Yuri: "Nice one." *made a thumbs up to Tear Grants***

**Tear: *smiles* "It's no trouble."**

**(Sorry, I can't help but pick on Zelos a little. I needed some sort of excuse for someone in the party to carry a potion - either Palma or Mizuho - for them to gain access to the Temple of Earth later... I also cut out the Sorcerer's Ring bit, since...well, both parties have their own ring, so it's kinda confusing if you know what I mean...)**


	21. Chapter 19

*wearing the Engineer's hard hat* Presea regains herself…at the cost of Colette getting kidnapped (the first time). This will be interesting…

**Disclaimer: If I owned both series, I could've made a lot of changes…such as Lloyd being a lot smarter than a lot of people think and stuff. But I don't; so there.**

* * *

Lloyd should've known that things would go wrong once they returned to Ozette. He should've listened to the feeling in his gut that things were going to go bad. But he ignored it, thinking about saving Presea from her Exsphere.

But…as he watched the young pinkette crying in front of the bed with the corpse in it, with Regal trying to comfort her, the boy bit his lip, feeling so…useless right now. They managed to save Presea…at the cost of Colette getting kidnapped. He could still remember what had happened earlier…

_Earlier…_

"AUGH…!" Zelos let out as he stretched himself. "Damn! I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank whatever god out there that we're back."

"I can't believe I'm saying this as well," Genis let out, looking tired, "but I agree with you there." Lloyd could've sworn he heard Rita let out "I'm so sore…"

The red clad male looked around a bit and pulled out the Key Crest he made over a week ago in the mines. The revelation of Regal's crime buzzes in his head still, but to be honest, they're both not that different. He looked over the Key Crest to make sure it looks right, nodding a little before stuffing it back into his pocket. "C'mon, we better head over there and put this on Presea," he said.

None of them complained as they made their way to the village. However, when they're nearing the entrance, he had a strange feeling in his gut that something bad is going to happen. He had no idea what it is, but…he tried to ignore the feeling, shaking his head as they continued their way.

However, when they got near the plaza, that Repede suddenly started to growl.

"Hey, what's with the mutt?" Zelos asked, looking over the canine with a look.

"Wait…!" Colette suddenly let out, and he looked back at her, seeing her eyes had gone wide. After a moment, she said, "I hear a lot of people screaming…and other people letting out strange sounds and then…nothing."

Lloyd blinked and casted a glance over to Yuri, who looked a little…pale, and when his eyes looked over to the boy, he just nodded to confirm what Colette had said. The boy cringed and looked over at the plaza. "We better check it out!"

He didn't hear the others call out to him as he raced to the plaza; he had to find out what it was that Colette had heard-

The boy skidded to a stop, and gawked (feeling the blood draining from his face) at the sight before him. He heard the others running up to him, but he can't look away from this rather…grisly sight.

In the plaza, there are beheaded bodies of what seemed to be the Papal Knights, blood littering the floor from their headless bodies, and some of the others are…he quickly made himself look to the sole person still standing, trying to get the image of the knights' guts lying out from their bodies.

The sole person happens to be Presea, blood dripping from the blade of her axe and she looked relatively unharmed. Due to her Exsphere, she was unable to react to her killing these men.

"Presea…did," Lloyd looked over the knights again before looking back up at her, "did you do this to them?"

She merely looked up at him. "Yes," she answered, "They wanted to take me away from Daddy. I could not leave him alone any longer than I did last time. Now…" She lifted her axe and got into a stance. "I have to stop you from taking away my Exsphere. Mr. Rodyle said that you'll take it away from me, so that I can't help Daddy anymore."

"Wha-?" Lloyd was only able to let out – who the hell is Rodyle and why did he say that? – before they had to scatter, dodging the girl's axe. "What the hell are you talking about?! That's not true!"

"Your Exsphere is _killing _you!" Regal shouted at her, "We merely wanted to fix your Key Crest!"

Presea didn't answer, drawing her arm back before-

"SHIT!" Lloyd didn't mean to shout that out, but it slipped out; pulling up a Guardian to withstand Beast. The barrier cracked at the energy forced upon it but he heard something crack – momentarily thinking that it was his for a moment – and hearing a familiar scream. When the attack ended, he lowered the shield and looked to the source in horror. The blonde Chosen is lying on the ground, unconscious with some blood from the root that her head had impacted on. "COLETTE!" He shouted and was about to run over to her-

A swipe from Presea's axe stopped him, and he suddenly heard a chorus of shrieks and flapping wings. "What the hell, now its dragons this time?!" He heard Rita exclaimed.

"Huh-?" He let out and turned to the source-

"HOLY-!" He let out, literally seeing _dragons_ flapping in the air, all of them heading towards where they are.

Then he heard a familiar cackle and they turned to the source, seeing the same purple haired man clapping as if he had seen a fantastic show. "Good work, Presea," he said, grinning sadistically. "You've done a marvelous job at keeping them away and knocking out the Sylvaranti Chosen!"

"What the-?! Who the hell are you?!" Lloyd demanded, glaring at the man.

The man tilted his head at the boy, a smug look on his face. "I do not dinge myself on introducing myself to Inferior Beings," he said.

"Inferior…" The boy heard the Professor mutter to herself as he stared in horror at the man before him, as if he and the Professor came to the same conclusion. "Then, you're-!"

The others had to scatter as the dragons swooped down at them, some of them grabbing the corpses of the Papal Knights, one of them grabbing the limp Colette. The boy could only look up at the half-elven man as he rode on one of the winged beasts.

It was then the guy had the _nerve_ to cackle. "Yes, that's right! I am Rodyle, the most cunning of the Desian Grand Cardinals!"

"Yeah, we've established that already!" Yuri shouted at the Desian from somewhere.

The Desian actually glared down at where Yuri is. "You be quiet, quarter-ling!" He shouted, "Creatures like you don't deserve to exist among others, especially kinsmen."

Lloyd looked over at Yuri (seeing the man having Presea over his shoulder and giving the half-elven man a confused look) and looked back at Rodyle to do the same. "What…?" What does the Desian mean?

The man then laughed, seemingly to brush off what he had said. "But enough about that! I hope you don't mind me taking the Sylvaranti Chosen!" He let out a cackle once more before the dragon he was on (along with the others) flying off to the sky.

"WAIT!" The boy cried out, trying to run out to them, "COLETTE!" He stopped when the dragons are no longer in sight. The male brunette could only look up at the sky his eyes wide before he fell to his knees, staring up blankly. "…Colette…" He let out.

No…No, no, no, no, NO! He- He couldn't believe he lost her, after swearing to protect her! But-!

He clenched his hands, and let out a roar of frustration as he pounded them onto the tree under him. The boy panted after screaming his lungs out, trying to calm himself. Dammit! Dammitdammitdammit!

As he tried to calm himself, he began to blame himself. If only he had listened to his gut feeling- if only he had half the sense to _stay_ put when Colette reported what she heard-! If only…if only…

The boy buried his face in his hands, fighting back the tears. No. He can't cry here. Crying won't get him anywhere. He realized that long ago.

Lloyd let out a sigh, running his hand over his face. He will find her. He will find her and save her. That, he will do – he promised himself.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over the source. It was Yuri, who gave him a sympathetic look (did the same thing happen to him?). "I'm sorry…" The man muttered softly.

The boy blinked. What-?

Oh. Right, Yuri would've saved her when she was kidnapped…but if the others saw his wings, they'll believe he's a member of Cruxis – which, he obviously isn't, but they can't take any chances.

Lloyd sighed, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, standing up. "We'll find a way to save Colette somehow."

The dark haired man gave him a smirk with a grunt. "Yeah."

"Lloyd," the boy turned to the convict, standing next to Presea as she looked at them blankly. "Will you help Presea?"

The boy looked over at the girl for a moment, and nodded. "…Yeah. It's not her fault that she did this – she was being used and manipulated by that bastard."

He heard Rita growl. "I swear, if I ever see that guy again, I'll go Violent Pain on his ass!" …Lloyd isn't sure what Violent Pain is, but he tried to shrug off the chill that went up his spine as he went over to the young pinkette.

The red clad male pulled out the Key Crest and kneeled to her level. "This should do the trick; she'll be able to return to her real self soon." He had to pause to stare down at the makeshift Key Crest he made. What if it'll be the same as Colette? Would Presea not respond after this? What if-?

No. He had to do this. He nodded, reaching out and pressing the new Key Crest over the old one, locking in place. He stood up and backed away, and the others came in for a closer look.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened.

After what felt like an eternity, Presea seemed to flinch, then again before closing her eyes and bringing her hands up to bury her face into them with a sigh. Then she jerked her head up, and- was that confusion in her eyes? "What…?" She looked around, completely confused.

"U-Um…" Genis slowly went over to her, his face a little red. "P-Presea, are you okay…?"

She blinked and looked over at the boy. "What? Oh, um, yes…" She looked back at the others, asking, "Where am I? What am I doing…?"

"Presea-" Lloyd began before she did a sharp gasp, looking around again.

"This…This is Ozette," she said, "Then…" Her face turned into the emotion of panic, looking over at Lloyd. "Where's my daddy?!"

She suddenly broke free of them, knocking over Zelos (the red haired male letting out a yelp), running in the direction of her home. "Wait, Presea-!" The girl was out of sight. Lloyd looked back at the others. "C'mon, we better go after her!"

He soon hurried after the girl, with the others following.

_Now…_

They soon found the girl looking over the person in the bed, her face completely pale, taking a few steps back. She muttered something to herself before she held her head, and let out a scream before she cried, right there.

Lloyd palmed his face, rubbing his temples. A part of him felt awful bringing her consciousness back, making her see her father like this; but they didn't want Presea to suffer anymore because of her Exsphere. It's right, but not right at the same time.

He just…he has no idea what to do…

_**~o~**_

Blank.

That was all she could feel, sitting there at the steps of her house, watching the others digging a grave for her father. She was barely aware of everything around her, her mind unable to get over the fact that her father is…dead.

He is dead…and, for what felt like a long time, she felt…ashamed for not noticing. All she could feel are negative emotions…some of which that she could identify, and others, she still couldn't.

Sorrow. Rage. Hatred. Shame.

Sorrow for being unable to save or notice her father, even when he was dead.

Rage to the people that had made her become the emotionless state she spent sixteen years in.

Hatred for the person who gave her this blasted stone, and brought her to those people.

…And shame for what she had done earlier.

Yes, she could remember her time in some parts, along with being with Lloyd's – the boy in red – group. …Some of the things, however.

She pulled her knees closer to her, fighting back the tears. She realized that, no matter what she does, she'll never get her father back. She will never regain the time she had lost while in that state.

Presea heard a whine and turned to the source, seeing the one eyed dog – Repede – looking up at her. She looked over the dog for a moment before she hesitantly put her hand on top of his head. After a moment of not doing anything, she began to rub his head. Repede let out a content grunt, and she was soon scratching the back of his ear.

She let out a small laugh, then blinked. She…laughed? She then registered herself…smiling. Why is…Why is she…?

"You gonna be okay Presea?" She looked over to the source, seeing the long dark haired male – she faintly recalled that his name is Yuri – looking over at her, in worry.

…Oh. She nodded mutely. "Yes…I think so…"

The man let out a sigh, looking over to the others, and she did as well, seeing Zelos and Regal placing the body of her father into the hole that had been dug up by the others. "…Sorry you had to see that," he said, and she looked over at him in surprise(?). "We didn't intend to wake you up to that."

She looked over the man for a moment and shook her head. "No…But, why are you apologizing? I should be the one to say I am-" She stopped herself. She could feel emotions again…but it's hard to not speak like a computer again. She corrected herself, "I'm the one who should say 'I'm sorry'. I've…been a great burden on you all." She looked away in shame, remembering what they had gone through and the things they did on her behalf.

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "So…you remember everything?"

She nodded. "Yes…mostly."

She heard footsteps and looked up, seeing the silver haired woman – Professor Raine, a nicer half-elf than the one who committed those…horrid experiments on her – approaching them. "We're done burying your father, Presea," she said softly. "Would you like to say anything on his behalf?"

The pinkette looked down at her lap, contemplating. Should she? She hadn't paid attention to her father at all during that time. But…she could say her good-byes to him.

An idea came to her mind. She stood up and turned to her house (feeling…hesitant) and looked back at the two…young adults. "I'll…be right back," she told them, "I…have to get something."

It took monumental effort to walk back into the house, and towards the closet in her father's bedroom. Leaning against the corner, collecting dust – she felt another pang of guilt – is her father's old woodcutter axe. She slowly reached out for the hilt, hesitated for a moment and gripped the handle.

She lifted it up without effort and walked out of the building.

Presea is grateful for the others giving her room as she made her way over to the grave, two poles shaped like a cross over a dirt mound. Taking a string from her pocket, she pierced the bottom of the axe into the dirt, and made it lean against the 'cross', using the string to tie the axe in place. Once she was done with her work, she stepped back.

She felt a pang of sorrow in her chest, looking over the makeshift marker. "…Daddy," she began softly. "I…will see you again in the afterlife…someday." She bowed to the grave. "…Good-bye…"

A moment of silence went by. She is…grateful for it.

Straightening up, the female lumberjack turned to the others. "Thank you…for burying my daddy."

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head – why does he look so apologetic? "Sure…it's the least we could do…"

Presea looked down at the ground for a moment. Do they all…pity her?

"U-Um," she looked over to the silver haired boy – Genis, another nice half-elf – as he stuttered a little. "Presea, if…if you don't mind me asking, why did you have an Exsphere like that on you?"

She felt a pang of rage, but she repressed it. "I received it from a person named Vharley," she explained, remembering what his body looked and of his…attitude.

Presea clenched her hands a little…and she could've heard she heard Regal – the blue haired convict – mutter to himself, "Vharley…I knew it!" She would've given the man a confused look but she had to continue her story.

"My daddy is a famous woodcutter in Ozette," she said, "It was how he earned his living, and he also delivered sacred wood to the king; and I helped daddy as much as I could. But…one day, my daddy fell ill. I wanted to help him, but…we barely have enough money for medicine or food. I tried to take over Daddy's job…but I was too weak." Her mind went back to the days that she had tried to lift her father's spare axe, tried to cut the wood to no avail.

"It was then that Vharley told me about Exspheres, and then introduced me to Rodyle," she continued to tell her story, "and I was taken to the Research Academy in Sybak." She remembered telling the others, when they first arrived in that town, how much she hated the place. How is that…when she had felt nothing, when her soul is numb?

"So then the experiments they did on you were carried out by the order of the Pope, right?" The red haired man – the Chosen of Tethe'alla, Zelos – asked.

"Which means that bastard is in league with the Pope!" Lloyd growled out, clenching his fists in anger.

"But why do that?" Raine asked, rubbing her chin. "What sort of purpose does the Pope has for teaming up with Rodyle and Vharley…assuming that the man is in league with the Exsphere broker."

Presea also noticed Yuri rubbing his chin a little, before looking over at Zelos. "Out of curiosity…does the Pope has any motivation to kill the king?"

All eyes turned to him in confusion. "What makes you say that?" The other female – Sheena – asked.

Yuri just shrugged. "It's…just a hunch."

After staring at him for a few moments, Zelos slowly replied, "Well…there's a rumor going around that the Pope is the king's half-brother. But no one is able to prove it."

"Damn," the dark haired male muttered, looking frustrated.

"Well, who cares about that?" The girl in red – Rita – said, "What the hell are we going to do? Cruxis now has their slimy hands on her!"

Presea joined Regal in looking at the mage girl in confusion. "What do you mean?" Regal asked, "Isn't Cruxis a holy syndicate?"

She nearly nodded until she remembered. Cruxis is…the enemy. What? But that doesn't make sense.

"It's…hard to explain," Lloyd said.

Regal gave the boy a look before he looked down at the ground in thought before looking over to Presea. "Do you…have an elder sister, Presea?" He asked.

She blinked, before shaking her head. "No." She answered.

"Then…do you have any other members of your family?" Raine asked.

"I have a younger sister," she answered, "She left to go into service for a noble…that was the last I saw of her. And my mommy died when I was a child."

She noticed in her peripheral vision that Regal's eyes had gone wide when she mentioned her young sister, Alicia, but didn't get the chance to question him when Zelos spoke up:

"'When you were a child'? You're still a child now."

She blinked. Yes, that's right…they don't know her true age. She slowly nodded. "Yes…of course. That's right."

They didn't notice her hesitating on her answer…but she could've sworn she heard a confused grunt coming from Yuri. The man seems to be quite…perspective.

"Well, at any rate," Sheena spoke up, "we can't just leave you here in this village by yourself…if you have no one else to turn to."

Raine nodded solemnly. "Yes…the people of this village seem to avoid her."

Presea looked over at the female half-elf in surprise; people…had avoided her? She could understand the reason – she hadn't aged at all ever since she had her Exsphere equipped. She hadn't aged at all for sixteen years…

…There is one thing she could do. She looked over at Lloyd. "Lloyd…" The boy in red, looked over to her when she said his name. "If…" She hesitated for a moment before she continued, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to go with you."

"What? Why?" He asked, confused.

"It's my fault that Colette was taken away," she said, lowering her gaze. "So…I want to help in her rescue."

"Please, allow me to come along as well," all eyes turned to Regal, the man's face looking serious, "If what you said is true, Raine, then it seems my fate is linked to your enemy."

Lloyd rubbed his chin, thinking of what to do with the two of them. Presea had hoped that he will allow her to come with them. After a few moments, he nodded, smiling. "You've been with us up until now, haven't you? As far as I'm concerned, you're both already a part of the group."

"You sure Lloyd?" Yuri asked the boy.

He nodded without hesitation. "Yeah." He looked back at the two. "Help us save Colette!"

Presea felt relieved, then nodded, determined. "I will!"

"Thank you," Regal said. "I shall not betray your trust."

"Well, you haven't betrayed us so far," Yuri said, "So we'll take your word for it."

Regal let out a chuckle.

"In that case, we should hurry and find Colette," Raine spoke up.

"All right," Lloyd nodded, "they headed east, I think."

"You think?" Rita repeated, looking over at the boy with a bored look.

"Hey-!"

"So you've lost the Chosen," a new voice cut off Lloyd and they all froze. She recognized that voice…

They all turned to the source to see the auburn haired man in white standing a few from them. Even Repede sounded out a whine of surprise as they all looked at the man – where did he come from, and how did he came up to them without them noticing?

"You again!" Lloyd spat out, stepping forward. "What have you done with Colette?!"

The auburn man's expression didn't change. "Rodyle is ignoring our orders and acting on his own. I know nothing of it."

"Internal strife? How pathetic," Raine remarked, disgusted.

"Not a very organized organization," Yuri spoke up **(ten points for those who can guess where that quote came from)**.

"Say what you will," the man said, "In the end, he will have no choice but to abandon the Chosen."

"What the hell does _that_ mean?" Rita questioned.

"She's useless as she is now," the man answered. "You can let her be."

"'Useless'?" Sheena repeated, her eyes narrowed, "What do you mean 'useless'?"

"You…" Lloyd growled out but Yuri grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Calm down, Lloyd," the man said to him. "He's not worth it."

Lloyd looked over at the dark clad man for a moment, looked over to the man in white then seemed to calm down a little, staring at the ground. Once Yuri removed his hand, the boy looked back up at the man in white. "…I won't let you get in our way," he said, shaking with an emotion she couldn't identify. "We're going to rescue Colette no matter what, and I won't let you get in our way! You got that?"

The ma didn't speak…then closed his eyes with a grunt. "Do what you will," he said, "It makes no difference to me."

He turned around but didn't move. "…If you are that determined, I suggest you head for the eastern skies," he said. "Surely the people of Mizuho have located the Rheairds by now."

"Wha-?"

"You won't be able to find the dragons on the ground," the man continued, cutting off Lloyd again. "So head east once you've gotten the Rheairds." With that, the man walked away. No one attempt to stop him; they could tell that the man isn't human.

Once he was gone, Lloyd spoke up. "…What the hell's that guy trying to do?"

"Good question," Zelos shrugged, "but, if he's useful, make use of him, right?"

"You think it could be a trap?" Sheena asked with a troubled frown.

"I can't see what they could gain from it," Raine remarked, shaking her head. "They already have Colette. Perhaps Kratos was telling the truth…"

"Or he might not," Yuri said, putting a hand on his hip. "But, either way, it's the only clue we've got in regards to Colette's whereabouts."

"True…" Sheena said, nodding. "We better head on back to Mizuho and see if there's any news on the Rheairds."

Presea looked up at the sky. "…We should be able to get to the village through a faster route through Ozette," she reported, "We'll still have day light once we get there. I…rather not be seen by the villagers…" …Especially since she slaughtered the Papal Knights on the plaza earlier.

Lloyd looked over at her and nodded. "Okay," he said, "You know the village better than we do, so lead the way Presea."

She nodded. "Yes." She soon led the group through the pathways that only people of Ozette would know about.

…It's time for her to regain herself. And bring retribution to the two men that had done this to her.

Or die trying.

* * *

**I decided to end it right there. It's short, but I figured I kept you guys waiting long enough. And twenty-two days from now would it become the first anniversary of Angels of Stars! Sklee!**

**Karol and Lloyd: "Sklee!"**

…**That word doesn't belong to me, I heard that word from freakyanimegal; so credit goes to her. 119 reviews! THANK YOU ALL! ! *falls over from spazzing out too much***

**Zelos: "She needs to chill…"**

**Raven: "Yup." *looks over at the reader* "Leave a review everyone! …And when will the Great Raven get to do his own screen time?!" *cries toon tears***

**Yuri: *shrugs* "I dunno. Probably a while."**

**Raven: "Aww…" *slumps over a bit***


	22. Chapter 20

*listening to some of the music from Tales of Xillia* I like this song… *notices the reader* Oh! Uh…*clears throat* Here's chapter 20. Enjoy. *goes back to listening to music*

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except this story and some OCs.**

* * *

True to what Presea had said, it didn't really take them long to get through Ozette and into the Gaoracchia Forest to get to Mizuho. Yuri was thankful for the convenience of having an inhabitant of the village with them to show them the way around the place. For some reason, he doesn't like that place. Was it the unfriendly aura that the village radiated; the fact that the people here ostracized half-elves? He just…doesn't know.

But he was thankful to be away from that place. During the time (between fighting against monsters), the others explained as much as they could to the three Tethe'allans everything that had occurred in Sylvarant before coming here nearly a month and a half ago.

The sun was just setting when they reached Mizuho. One of the guards dropped in from somewhere (startling most of them). "Sheena, Vice-Chief Tiga has news," he reported, "Go meet him."

"Oh, thank you," Sheena said. The guard nodded curtly before disappearing in a 'poof'.

"…I'd like to do that…" Yuri muttered to himself. The things he could do while doing that: mess with the Knights and 'poofing' away to someplace else to piss them off, and making a getaway would be fun too. He was entertaining the thought when he heard:

"C'mon, Yuri!" He looked over at Lloyd waving at him as the others had walked ahead of them. "We're leaving you behind!"

Oh, right. "Be there in a second," he told him. There's also one other thing.

He looked over at Repede. "Go on and visit Kohta if you want," he told the canine. "We'll meet you later at the chief's hut."

The canine nodded and took off to where Kohta's house is. The dog wasn't even out of sight before Yuri quickly took off to catch up to the others. He managed to catch up to them when they began to enter the chief's hut.

He barely saw the Vice Chief when he looked over at them. "Ah, you have such good timing, all of you," he remarked.

"What is it, Vice Chief Tiga?" Sheena asked as they all sat down at the floor again.

"I have great news," he began, "We managed to find the location of the Rheairds, just a few hours ago."

The news took them all by surprise. "R-Really?" Lloyd blurted out.

"It's just like Kratos said," Genis commented.

"Yeah," Yuri nodded, then rubbed his chin a little. "But why go through the trouble to help us…?" He murmured, thinking over a few…questionable actions the man has done. Such as betraying them at that damn tower, after all of that time helping them on the journey! He _hated_ people like that. So why-?

Fear; the feeling of…overwhelming…fear.

His eyes shifted over to the source, seeing…Sheena? He noticed that the female ninja's hands are clenched tightly at her lap and trembling. The dark haired male blinked, surprised. What's wrong with her?

"Sheena," the Vice-Chief's voice started the young woman (and himself) and they looked over to the man before them – who was looking at Sheena in particular. "There is a test you have to do before you could go and recover the Rheairds."

"A…test, Vice-Chief?" Sheena repeated, barely able to keep her voice stable. At that moment, all eyes (but Yuri's – who glanced over at her again and back to the Vice Chief) are on her; as if wondering what's wrong.

The man closed his eyes with a nod, grunting. "That's right," he answered (and Yuri had a feeling that eyes are back on the man again). "You know as well as I do that without a constant supply of Volt's Mana, the Rheairds will simply crash again. That is why," the man opened his eyes again, looking over at the female ninja in their group, "before you could recover them…you have to make a pact with the Summon Spirit of Lightning, Volt."

He heard Sheena made a chocked gasp and looked over at her in alarm-

The young woman's face had gone pale, her eyes completely wide…he had never seen her like this before.

"I know that this is difficult for you Sheena," Yuri looked back at Tiga when he spoke up again, "but this is something that you have to overcome. If you continue to live in fear, you will lack the resolve it takes to finish this journey."

Yuri looked back over at Sheena, seeing her shaking, her teeth gritting. Then, she suddenly stood up. "I…I can't! I just can't!" She shook her head vehemently, turning and running out of the room.

"Sheena-!" Lloyd called out belately as he and Yuri quickly stood up to go after her but they didn't.

After a few moments of silence, Lloyd looked back at the man. "What was that about…? She was nervous the last time we asked her to make a pact, but not like this."

"…Does it have something to do with Volt?" Yuri asked the Vice-Chief, looking over at the elder brunette man.

The man let out a grunt, bowing his head. "…Yes." He answered, his mouth set in a grave frown. "Sheena failed to make a pact with Volt once before. It was twelve years ago…Volt suddenly went out of control when she had attempted to make a pact with him, and as a result, exterminated over a quarter of Mizuho's population." The man glanced over to the other room covered by the door, cracked open. "The Chief defended her during the attack…and now, Chief is in a coma."

"Oh man…" Zelos let out, "You mean that incident that I heard about? Man, I guess I was hoping she would be over that-"

"Zelos!" Lloyd exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Hey! Easy!" The man held up his hands to quell the boy's anger. "I hated seeing Sheena upset and all back then. Especially since a lot of people had a grudge against her for something she was forced to do."

A grudge…then…

The young man silently made his way out of the hut, not wanting to be seen by the others. Slipping on his boots, he wondered around the village, thinking of what he had heard just now.

Twelve years. Sheena had spent twelve years, with the knowledge that she had accidentally killed a lot of people because of Volt. Why did Volt go crazy when Sheena attempted to forge a pact with him? The only Summon Spirit he saw was Undine, and she seemed…okay.

Now he understood why Sheena didn't seem too keen on making a pact with Volt. Or, from what the Sylvaranti had told the others, making any pact at all. He felt…awful not talking to her about it. He had seen her fear, but didn't talk to her because he believed that it's too personal for her.

For some reason, he _had_ to talk to her. …Or something.

Cheering Estelle and Karol up was one thing – with the accidental death of Belius and helping in the Don's suicide ritual – but…how the hell can he cheer her up on this matter-?

_-under one of those…'sakura' trees, was a little girl with blackish-purple hair, sitting on the roots, her legs curled up with her knees to her chest. He blinked, before walking over to her. He was barely a few inches near her – blinking when he heard crying-_

"_Ah!" He let out when he tripped over one of the roots over the ground, and he accidentally dropped his music box, crashing onto the ground. He heard that familiar hymn as he grunted in pain, slowly pushing himself up. "Oww…that hurt!" He muttered, sitting up and rubbing his wounds a bit. He was about to –_ static –

"_Who are you?" He blinked and looked up at the source. The girl – she looked no older than three – was looking over at him with soft brown eyes, and some tears where coming out of her eyes._

_He blinked, looking around for a bit before he looked back at her, pointing at himself. "You mean me?"_

"_Yeah," the girl nodded, standing up and picking up his music box, looking over it. "I never heard of this song…what is it…?"_

_The boy quickly pushed himself up to stand – wincing a little when his knees throbbed – and went over to the girl. "I-It's a song my mother made for me," he told her _– what? – _blushing a little. "At least…that's what () told me."_

_The girl looked over at the boy, mouthing what he said and looked down at the box, before closing it and handing it back to him. "Thanks," he said, taking it back. He looked over the box, making sure that there aren't any marks on it, before looking back up at her. "So, why are you sitting here all alone, crying?"_

_The girl frowned, pursing her lips and looked away. "The other kids won't play with me, because they think I'm weird."_

_He raised his brow at her. "What? You don't look all that weird to me," he told her, looking over her purple…dress thing and back at her. _

_She looked over at him in surprise, her eyes wide. "You don't? ?" She asked._

"_Well, yeah," he said, as if it was stupid question. "You look like an ordinary girl to me." Except for the fact that he felt that this girl is _– static –_ but he didn't say that for her sake._

_The girl looked over at him before she beamed. "Arigato!"_

_He blinked. "Huh?"_

"_Oh," the girl blinked and then a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "It means 'thank you' in our language…"_

"_Oh." He nodded, understanding. "Okay then. Anyway, what's your name?"_

"_U-Um," the girl stuttered, wringing her dress thing with her hands for a moment, before she answered, "It's-"_

"Yuri?" He jerked, having been brought out of the image and feeling a small headache, hearing the familiar voice and looked to the source.

Lloyd looked over the man with a concerned look, his head tilted in a way like he was unable to comprehend what he just saw. Yuri felt a little unnerved by it. "What?" He let out.

"Are…you okay?" the brunette asked, "Your eyes looked blank there for a moment."

The dark haired man blinked at that. His eyes were…blank? "They were?" He asked, a bit skeptical.

"Well yeah," the boy said, as if it was a dumb question, "The same thing happened back in that red room in Meltokio when we first arrived." Again, Yuri blinked; his eyes did that back in Meltokio all of those weeks ago? "In fact…they've been doing that every once in a while we were in different places. What exactly is going on with you Yuri?"

The boy then made a look – making the man wince at the sight – he knew all too well…because it was the look _he_ himself had made at times. Damn, he rubbed off on Lloyd a bit where he had become perspective; or rather upgraded, since he was pretty perspective around some of the others. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had spent a lot of time with some of the people who hides things…or something. Yuri didn't know Lloyd all too well other than what he had seen and what those that knew him had said about him.

What made Yuri hurt the most…was the fact that Lloyd is…trust-worthy; _way_ too trusting for his own good. So much like Estelle (and a bit of Flynn) in a way, even in his willingness to help complete strangers. He really doesn't get this boy, who seemed to have gone through so much hell in his short seventeen years of his life. Why does the boy trust him so much? He never gave him a _reason_ to trust him – other than the fact that Yggdrasill seemed to be after his life and is after Colette for some reason or another – and he never revealed much of himself or his friends to the boy. So…_why_? Why does the boy trust him so much? Lloyd have every right to tell them about his discovery back in Meltokio when Kratos confronted him – yet he _didn't_. He kept true to his word, and-!

Yuri let out a defeated sigh through his nose. So much like Estelle…he's got to be honest with him. "I…I don't know," he finally said, palming his temple. "For some reason…I've been getting these weird…images in my head."

The boy blinked. "Images?" He parroted.

The dark haired man nodded. "They didn't begin to appear until I first landed here, waking up in that weird…place."

"What strange place?" The boy asked, "You can tell me, you know."

Yuri felt another pang in his chest. "Lloyd, I don't think-"

"I trust you, Yuri. So you can tell me everything." The boy gave him a smile.

Those three words… Those three, simple words the boy said… Without showing it to Lloyd, Yuri gritted his teeth. Dammit, Lloyd…

Yuri has no choice but to tell him. The boy wanted to know about the place he ended up, not about everything else he did before coming here. Lloyd doesn't need to know what he had done, and what he had been through after all…

And so Yuri explained to Lloyd about what he had done before he ran into them at the mountain range nearly a month ago. He told Lloyd about waking up in a rather furbished room, covered in bandages and nearly striped of his clothes but a pair of underwear, separated from his friends after Yggdrasill attacked him. He told the boy about trying to escape from the place, getting lost and then getting chased by people in armor, talking about Cruxis and such. And told the boy about the weird…episode he had gotten when his arm was dislocated followed by finding the Rheaird room and using it to get away from the people, all while receiving two images, later crash landing and meeting them.

"…And that's pretty much it," Yuri finished his story.

Lloyd, after silently listening to the man, nodded. "So you woke up in the Renegade base – the Rheairds they have is a dead giveaway."

So those people are the Renegades, the people who are after Lloyd for some reason. A reason none of them know of.

"But, after all of this time, I still have no idea what they're about," the dark haired man sighed, "It's so damn frustrating…"

The boy rubbed his chin a little. "Well…I don't know what we should do about it…" He said, easing his stance, "But…we'll try to figure this out one day."

"…Yeah." The man then looked over the boy with a look. "There's a reason why you're out here, isn't there?"

The boy jerked. "Crap! I needed to know where Sheena is!"

Lloyd rushed past him, barely giving Yuri time to call out, "H-Hey! Lloyd!"

The boy paused for a moment to look back at him. "What?" He let out, blinking.

"What are you going to do?" Yuri had an idea what the boy is going to do, but he wanted the boy to confirm it.

The boy turned to him, determined. "I know what Sheena has gone through," the boy said, "Accidentally getting other people involved with something that I've done, with their lives getting cut short because of my actions. I understood her pain, so…as her friend, I'm going to try to help her feel better." The boy looked sincere with his words.

…The kid really is an enigma, sometimes. The man let out a chuckle. "What? What's so funny?" The boy let out.

Yuri shook his head. "It's nothing Lloyd," he said, with his grin still present. "We should go and find Sheena."

The boy blinked in surprise. "You're going to find Sheena as well?"

"Sure," he simply said. "Like I said about Raine and Gene to Kate back in Sybak: she's one of us."

The boy stared at him for a moment…and broke into a grin. "Yeah! Let's go and find her!"

On the inside, Yuri couldn't help but cringe. What the hell did he do to deserve people who was willing to trust him; no questions asked…?

_**~o~**_

The young woman sat at her secret hiding place in the village, staring out to the river running below her, leaning against the large slab of rock behind her. She held her knees close to her chest, not looking at anything at all.

The words the Vice-Chief had said to her back there…

She-She can't…she can't do it…! What if- what if they're all there, and her friends get killed, because of her? ?

Sheena still remembered that event clearly, as if it had just happened yesterday.

She remembered being completely nervous the whole time when they were on the way to the Temple of Lightning. The Chief, her adoptive grandfather, is with her at the time, but even with his presence, he's still scared. Volt was also terrifying; it didn't even help when Volt said something…inaudible. Suddenly, the Summon Spirit strikes out at everyone- the screams could still be heard- she could still remember smelling something…burnt. It was…repulsive. Then her grandfather was before her, and-!

Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes and she bit back a sob, drawing her knees closer as she buried her face in them. Because of her… It's because of her that the people that were with her are dead! It's because of her that almost a quarter of the villagers are dead. And it's because of _her_ that her grandpa is like this! Stuck in a coma that he hadn't woken up from!

Sheena knew she was responsible for the deaths of so many people – she knew that, but the knowledge of that fact didn't make things better. For the past twelve years, that fact alone had haunted her.

She knew that they needed the pact to get to the Rheairds. She knew that they needed them to save Colette – the blonde had grown on her, which was funny since she originally wanted to kill her back then. But…she just _can't_!

Sheena felt something nudge her arm, the sound of a familiar bell ringing. She looked over to the small, man-made Summon Spirit that sat down next to her. "It'll okay, Sheena," he said, his three tails wagging a little. "I know you can do it."

The kunoichi sighed, looking back at the river. "I don't know, Corrine," she said. "I know that we needed the Rheairds, but… I don't want anyone else to die because of me. What if I fail again?"

"Don't worry!" The small spirit assured her. "If it comes down to it, I'll save you! Just like you saved me back then!"

The young woman looked back over at the spirit. "Corrine…" She sighed, shaking her head. "I…I can't…"

She suddenly heard footsteps, and became alert. She pulled out a kunai and threw it in a direction the sound came from-

"WHOA!" A familiar cry was heard, followed a crashing sound. Sheena blinked, sharing a glance with Corrine, before they went to check out the source.

The source happens to be Lloyd, sitting on the ground staring at the small knife sticking out of the ground with Yuri looking rather amused, the man looking over to Sheena after helping the boy up. "Hey Sheena," he merely said.

"Wha-?" She let out, startled. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came looking for you," Lloyd answered, as if it was obvious.

Upon hearing that, the woman sighed. "You two heard, didn't you?" She had a feeling they knew what she was talking about. "I…just can't do it. A lot of people had died because I failed to make a pact with Volt."

"Yeah, we did hear about it," Yuri said, "So what?"

The woman jerked at the answer. "So what?!" She repeated, "Haven't you heard what I just said earlier?! If I tried to make a pact with him again, the same thing might happen again! I-I don't want any of you guys to die! !"

With that, the dam that she had built, back when she was 7 days after the incident, came crashing down, openly crying in front of them. "I- I don't want anyone else to die because of me! You guys are my friends, and-!" She fell to her knees and covered her face, sobbing.

Dammit, she hated this. She hated looking so weak to others. But…all of the emotions she had bottled up, the years of most of the villagers giving her unfriendly looks, the children refusing to play with her, and the news of her friend disappearing long ago…all of it just broke free.

She felt fur going around her neck, and…she heard the ground shifting on both sides of her, and feeling a hand on her shoulder. "Sheena…we aren't going to die," Lloyd said from her right (so then, Yuri is the one who placed a hand on her shoulder?). "You want to know why?"

Sniffling, the young woman looked over at the boy, who gave her a serious look. "Wh-Why?"

"Because you're going to succeed, that's why."

She stared at him, lowering her arms. "Wh-What? How can you know that?" She questioned him. "I already failed once."

"Well…" Yuri is the one who spoke up this time, removing his hand from her shoulder, "from what I can understand, you were just seven when you tried to make a pact with him. You've got more experience now, and you have all of us with you."

"Yeah, what Yuri said," the boy agreed. "Listen, I know what you've been through, I understand. I tried to help someone from the Human Ranch back in Sylvarant…and a lot of people died because of it, including Marble…" the boy's gaze turned downward, frowning.

The kunoichi looked over at him. People had died because of his actions…?

She hesitated, before she asked, "But…what if Volt goes berserk again?"

"Then we'll just beat the crap out of him," Yuri simply answered. "If it comes down to it, we'll have to give it our all to make sure he's subdued, or until you managed to convince him to make that pact."

"Yuri's right," Lloyd spoke up. "You're our friend, Sheena; and we'll do everything we can to help you."

"Yeah!" She felt Corrine rub his head against her cheek, making her chuckle. "I'll do my best as well, Sheena!"

The young woman stood up, walked a couple of paces as the two males got up as well, and she looked over at the two. They both looked completely serious with what they've said. She let out a sigh. "I…Thanks you guys."

Lloyd grinned. "Sure!"

"But…I need a bit more time to think about this," she said, Lloyd looking back at her as Corrine moved to sit on her shoulder. "So…"

Yuri nodded, understanding. "Sure, take all the time you need. Though…" he made a savage grin, saying as he rubbed his chin, "I wonder how tough Volt is. It sounds fun to fight a Summon Spirit."

…Sheena joined Lloyd in giving the man an incredulous look. "You're excited about fighting Volt?" The boy asked.

"Well, if Undine is as tough as you guys said, I wanted to see for myself if Volt is just as tough," the man simply answered.

"…You _really _are a strange guy, you know that?" Sheena couldn't help but ask him.

Yuri merely shrugged. "I've been called worse."

…The man is an enigma sometimes.

"Anyways, we'll meet you at your place, later, right?" Yuri changed the subject, which she was thankful for.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"All right," Lloyd nodded as he and Yuri turned to leave. "We'll see you later."

"Yeah," she said- then she remembered something. "Wait, how do you guys know where to find me?"

The two looked back at her, blinking in confusion. "What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.

"This spot is…a secret hiding place that only I know of," she explained, gesturing to the large rock, the river and several sakura trees around them. "So, how did you…?"

When she trailed off, Yuri oddly blinked and looked up at the sky. Lloyd looked over at him and back at Sheena. "Actually…we really had no idea how to find you," he answered. "I just followed Yuri."

Sheena blinked. What?

As if to her unanswered question, Yuri rubbed the back of his head. "I…don't know," he said. "My legs just moved on their own…" He looked back at her. "Anyway, we'll see you."

The man walked off, the red clad boy following him as close as he could.

When they were gone, Corrine jumped off of her shoulder to look up at her, as she rubbed her chin. "…Sheena?"

"…There's one other person I know that knew of this area…" she muttered to herself. "But…what the hell does _that_ mean?"

Things just keep getting confusing…

* * *

…**I'll be honest with you, I wanted to get this out of the way before we move on to the Temple of Lightning. THAT is where things will get interesting! School is out for me this summer, so updates to this story may or may not be frequent. I don't know, really. *shrugs***

**Presea: "…Were some of the songs used to make this chapter from Elfen Lied?"**

***looks over at the young pinkette and winces* Eeugh! It's kinda creepy to hear you speak after twenty chapters… Though, it's not your fault you're like this.**

**Raine: "That is true."**

**Anyways, yes, Presea, they are…in a way.**

**Presea: *an invisible question mark appeared over her head***

**Karol: *pops in from nowhere* "Leave a review everyone! And check out the poll the authoress made while you're at it!"**

***Karol had somehow landed on top of Zelos, said man groaning in pain as Sheena laughed***

**Flynn: *not sure what to make of the scene before him* "This is…rather strange."**

**Regal: *nods* "Indeed."**


	23. Chapter 21

Conflict and drama~a! *laughs evilly*

**Disclaimer: I own nothing; plain and simple, folks, plain and simple.**

* * *

Sometime after he and Yuri left Sheena alone, as they were getting ready for dinner, the female ninja came back into her house, and announced that she will try to make a pact with Volt. The others gave her their encouragement, along with him, assuring her that none of them will die. He will do everything he can so that Sheena won't have to suffer anymore; and to make sure that no one will die. Soon after, Lloyd was willing to put a hold on getting his own share as he and Sheena went over to the Chief's hut to tell the Vice-Chief of her decision.

And after _that,_ they rest at Mizuho for the night, and in the morning, they got some supplies and medicine for the trek to the temple, then the group headed out through the forest to the docks through some miles from Ozette. According to the Vice-Chief, the Temple of Lightning is located northward of the continent Sybak, Ozette and Mizuho is at. It only took a few hours to get to the island where the temple is. It is late noon when they arrived…yet Lloyd couldn't help but be disturbed by the really dark and pretty big cloud floating in the sky over the temple. Lightning cracked over the temple every now and then. "I…don't like the look of that cumulonimbus cloud over the temple," Rita let out.

"Cumu-low what?" Lloyd looked over at the red clad mage in confusion.

"A really big cloud that makes lightning," Yuri explained, keeping it simple for the boy.

"In some cases, they are commonly known as 'thunderheads'," Presea added in.

"Oh."

"Eeee!" Lloyd couldn't help but jump when he heard the Professor squeal in delight. "I wonder how different the temple is compared to the seals in Sylvarant!" He tried _not_ to cringe at the cackle she let out.

Those that hadn't seen the female half-elf like this, looked quite confused (or perhaps unnerved) by her behavior. "…Is something wrong with the Professor?" Presea asked.

"…I've been wondering that, too, actually," Yuri admitted. "No offense, but it's pretty creepy…"

At that, Genis sighed. "I- Sorry about this," he said, "but whenever my sister sees a ruin or something ancient looking, she…tends to go crazy. We began to call this side of her, 'ruin-mood'. And trust me," the boy shuddered, "she can be _scary_ when she's like this."

"…Okay, I don't know whether I should be worried or not," Yuri let out.

"Just ignore her and don't look at her directly…" Lloyd sharply whispered, not wanting his teacher to hear him.

The group slowly made their way to the temple, and Lloyd was trying so hard not to be unnerved that the lightning could strike down on them at any time. He looked over at Sheena, seeing her becoming tense. The boy patted her on the shoulder, to reassure her that everything will be all right. It worked, but only a little.

The temple is really a tall tower of sorts, somewhat like the Tower of Mana back in Sylvarant, but different at the same time. Moss covered parts of the stone that had built the place and vines. To the boy's confusion, there wasn't a pedestal near the opening of the temple (which showed darkness within) – if the temple is a seal, then…shouldn't there be an Oracle Stone?

He didn't speak up until they were further in the temple. "You know, we got in pretty easy," he remarked, looking around the incredibly dim place (despite lightning crackling above them). "I didn't see an Oracle Stone anywhere."

"This is the flourishing world, so it probably isn't functioning as a seal right now," the Professor explained.

"In a way, it makes sense," Regal said, slowly making their way down the path. "It would take years before Cruxis can set up the temples as seals once the World Regeneration Ritual is completed in Sylvarant."

…Why does the thought of completing that World Regeneration Ritual in Sylvarant brings him unease? As if…something bad would happen if it was complete…?

Lloyd tried to shake it off. They have important things to do.

The male brunette noticed Yuri looking around their area warily, at the strange…sky within the temple. The twin swordsman moved over to walk in the same pace as Yuri. "Is something wrong?" He asked the dark clad man.

He shook his head. "I don't know why…but there is this air of…anger in the air."

The boy blinked. "Anger?" He repeated – what could be angry?

"No idea," he simply said, "There's anger, hurt and betrayal in this temple – as if something in here is pissed off by something."

The boy looked over at Yuri with a particular look. "Do you think the source could've been Volt?"

The man merely shrugged. "Maybe."

That…doesn't sound assuring.

After wondering through the purple walkways, they soon found themselves in a large room, a large platform above them. There are stairs that lead up to it and other openings in the area. Lloyd could see Sheena's hands shaking. "…Is this where the seal is?" he asked her.

It took a moment for Sheena to nod. "Y-Yeah." She pointed to the platform above them. "The altar is right up there."

For some reason, this felt…too easy. Lloyd didn't like this one bit. Before, he would've been glad that it would be easy – right now however something doesn't…set right with him.

When they got to the top of the platform, his suspicions are correct when Sheena let out: "Wh-What? ? They're gone!"

"What's gone?" the Professor asked, alarmed.

The purple clad woman looked back at them as she pointed at the altar. "The spheres needed to summon Volt are gone!" There are three circular indents placed around the altar…like an invisible triangle, but upside down. The indents have different colors to them: blue, yellow and red.

And if Sheena is distressed about the spheres being missing, then that means they're pretty important. "Were they there when you came here last time?" Lloyd asked her.

She shook her head. "No," she answered, "there are people with me that knew what to do. They and the people of Mizuho that went with me went to get the spheres."

"…So we're now doing a scavenger hunt," Yuri said, sighing. "What a pain…"

"I-I'm sorry…" Sheena said, bowing her head.

"Don't apologize," he told her, "You were seven at the time, weren't you? There's no way that they would let you get anywhere near danger, right?"

"That's a good point," Genis said.

"Alright, then we need to split up into three groups," Raine said, looking over them. "When we first came in, there are three doorways around the first and second floor. They may lead to the spheres we need."

"Then, we need to pick three leaders, right?" Lloyd asked, to which Raine nodded. "Well-"

"I'll be the leader of Group 1!" Zelos exclaimed…and most of them gave him a deadpanned look. "What? I wanna lead for once!"

"You'd make a horrible leader," Genis said, making a bored look.

"Can it, brat!"

They just ignored Zelos. "Well, okay, we need two more," Lloyd said, looking back at his teacher.

In the end, it was decided that Lloyd and Yuri will become the leaders of the next two groups. One group will have to have an odd number out of the ten people.

It was obvious that Yuri and his two companions are going to be in the same group, so his group is done. Lloyd decided to go with Genis, Professor Raine and Sheena; and Zelos is stuck with Presea and Regal.

Nodding at their choices (though Zelos complained about not having enough women in his group until Sheena smacked him), the group went to the doorways they choose, each hoping to find the sphere that's hopefully at the end of the room they're in.

Of course, Lloyd quickly began to hate the temple. There are many reasons for his dislike of the temple, but the main reason…are the Lightning type monsters in this damn place. Especially the Lightning Birds; when he tried to slash at one of them, he quickly found out that his swords doesn't do much to it…since they _are_ made out of lightning, and he just get a nasty shock as a result. He let Genis, the Professor and Sheena deal with them since they have Artes that are long range. With the Thunder Sword, he used Demon Fang and Double Demon Fang to get them, since those monsters are ground based.

Oh, right, and there are also the dark passages that makes it impossible to see, and they had to use the lightning flashes to see their way…not to mention that the walkways are suspended in _mid-air_; and one wrong step could send them plummeting down to the depths of darkness below them. It was actually terrifying, not being able to see where you're going or walking.

Relief came to him when they approached a pillar with a spiral staircase going around it. Once they got to the top, he saw one of the spheres they were looking for. It is colored yellow (and a part of him was hoping that it would be red – call it childish, but he kinda likes red).

Lloyd carefully lifted the sphere off of the pedestal it was on, and froze for a moment, in case there might be a trap. A few moments went by, and he visibly eased his guard. "…That's it?" He can't help but say. "That was anticlimactic…" He turned around to leave-

The Professor and Genis were staring at him in shock. "You know the word 'anticlimactic' and used it right!" The half-elven boy exclaimed, sounding amazed.

"H-Hey! Shut it, Genis," he said, blushing a little, "I heard that word from Yuri a while ago, and I thought it fits."

"I gotta say," Sheena piped up, "Yuri seems to rub off on you, Lloyd."

"Yes…" The brunette looked over at his teacher, seeing her rubbing her chin with her eyes narrowed in a thoughtful look. The boy blinked, remembering what Yuri had told them when they were separated in the Gaoracchia Forest, about the Professor not completely trusting him. Yuri…didn't let it bother him; the man seems able to read people…to an extent. Yuri and the Professor are his friends…so he has to let them resolve this issue on their own. It seems like the only thing he can do at the moment.

He began to walk off. "C'mon, we better get back to the others," he said to them, pausing by Sheena. "It'll be all right," he told her, "If anything happens, we'll help you with Volt." He grinned at her. "Everything will be fine; okay?"

The young woman blinked in surprise. "O-Oh, uh, s-sure," she stuttered, her cheeks going red a little.

Lloyd blinked a little, but mentally shrugged it off. "Well, let's head back."

_**~o~**_

"Splash!"

Repede and Yuri jumped out of the way of the water spell, the jar coming out of the ground and forcibly shot water down onto the Lightning elemental monsters. With them down, the dog and man duo used Demon Dog and Azure Edge respectively to finish off the rest of the monsters.

As the canine sheathed his knife, he heard the dark haired man say, "That's wasn't so bad."

"Yeah," Rita spoke up, "We're lucky that the monsters in here are weak to Water and Earth magic."

True; if the monsters are weak against something else, something that they might not have, then they would've been in trouble. It's particularly hard for Repede and Yuri to attack the monsters since they have some lighting coursing through them (since they're both used to fighting in close combat) so they had no choice but to use long ranged attacks to get them. And their long range attacks are…limited, to their frustration.

"But that was annoying, though," Yuri spoke up again when they walked down the hall. "I mean, birds made out of lighting? What next, birds made out of fire or something; or flightless birds with a person's face on them?" He and the man knew it was unlikely but… so far, they have seen some rather crazy things on this world.

"Yeah, they were," Rita agreed with a huff. "Makes me wonder what 'Volt' is like."

"Well, Sheena and the others said that Volt is a 'Summon Spirit', like Undine." Yuri crossed his arms as they walked. "And Volt is supposedly strong; probably stronger than an Entelexia. And since Belius is strong even when she went crazy…" The man trailed off, perhaps thinking about how strong the Summon Spirit is.

Yes, it's true that they had a hard time fighting against Belius – but the whole thing had been an accident. They all knew that Estelle didn't mean to make the old one go berserk; the girl healed her out of kindness. They never imagined that it would happen, and they were forced to kill her. Which was…pretty odd, now the dog thought about it; since the Hunting Blades had a hard time trying to kill her.

"That reminds me…" Rita suddenly said, and Repede looked back over to the red clad mage as she looked over at his master. "You've been spending a lot of time around Lloyd for a while; what's up with the two of you, huh?" Her tone was suspicious when she asked that.

The man merely gave her a confused look. "What made you think that?" The dog narrowed his eye – the man is circumventing. He always does that whenever he doesn't want to answer a question – whether it would be from Flynn, Estelle, or anyone else for that matter.

And the dog also noticed that the man had been spending time with the young twin swordsman lately. The dog wasn't sure what it was, but the two of them were getting along pretty well. …As if the boy trusted the man completely – another odd thing, because Yuri gives people time to decide if they wanted to trust him or not. That and a few other things…

"Well," Rita began, "I've seen Lloyd talking to you a lot, and the two of you spar on a few occasions. Not to mention that he seemed to accept everything you seemed to tell him; and he seemed to calm down when we encountered that Kratos guy yesterday."

The dog didn't miss the man making a small wince at that. Rita did, however – and, after a moment, the man answered, "Like I know. Lloyd was the only one willing to talk to me when I first ran into them."

"How exactly did you run into them?" Rita questioned as they got out of the hallway.

Yuri looked up. "Hey, is the sphere we're looking for up there?" He asked, referring to the large pillar before them. The man effectively changed the subject by getting them back to the task at hand. However, there's a problem.

There are no stairs.

"Okay, we maybe have found it, but how the hell are we going to get it?" Rita questioned as they looked up at the large pillar before them.

Yuri shrugged with one shoulder. "Good question." The small group looked around a little, to find a clue as to how to get up to the top of the pillar. Repede soon noticed a contraption of sorts near them. It looked similar to the pillar before them but there are…markings on it, and two thick lines are around it horizontally, splitting the thick cylinder into three. The dog wasn't sure what it's for, but it looked important. He let out a bark to alert the other two to his find.

"What is this thing?" Rita asked as they looked over the cylinder.

"I dunno," Yuri said, looking over the thing. "But it looks pretty important."

The man moved over to it to get a closer look, and reached his hands out to pat it. He placed his hands onto the side of the top portion of the cylinder and made it move, the bottom of the cylinder moving in the opposite direction on its own-

And they heard stone grinding and they all looked to the source, seeing the top and bottom parts moving in the same direction the parts of the cylinder moved. "…Huh," Yuri let out, as they looked back at the cylinder. "So this thing is connected to the pillar…but that doesn't tell us a lot of what to do here…"

Rita gave the cylinder a critical look, walking around it to examine it. She then grabbed the middle and turned it, the top and bottom of the cylinder moving much more than the bottom did earlier (where it moved quarter of the way, and the top and bottom moved with half of the way); the top going left, the bottom going right in the opposite direction than last time. The top and bottom of the pillar did the same thing as the cylinder.

…And since Repede had a closer look at it, the bottom of the cylinder (not connected to this…'puzzle') had the same strange markings as the other three. They looked somewhat like…parts of the stairs.

It seemed Rita also figured out the puzzle. "Maybe we should try to get all three markings on them to match with the very bottom one," she hypothesized. "If we do that, then the stairs might appear."

Yuri and Repede glanced at each other, at the pillar and back at her. "All right, you haven't been wrong once," Yuri said, "But with the way those parts moved when we moved one of them…we need to figure out a pattern to get all of them to align."

And so the two of them spent a few minutes taking turns on how to work the puzzle. If Repede had hands instead of paws, he would've helped out; but they all know he couldn't.

But Repede can tell that they're having a hard time trying to solve the puzzle.

It took nearly an hour before Yuri reached out, turned one of the parts this way, turned the other in another direction, and after twisting the parts around, the marks have lined up with the marks on the very bottom of the cylinder. "There we go," he said, stepping back to admire his work.

The room suddenly shook greatly, nearly making them fall to the ground with the intensity of the rumble. It lasted for a few moments, and once it stopped that they looked to the pillar to see that two poles of sorts coming out near the top of the platform they're on, angled to near the top of the pillar and multiple flaps came out of the poles, to form the familiar shape of the stairs. In just a few moments, the stairs had finished forming.

…And Repede could've sworn he heard a strange jingle just now. **(What Repede just heard is the jingle that plays when you solved a puzzle in the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.)**

"Well, what do you know?" Yuri said, fully turning to look at the stairs. "It worked."

"About freaking time," Rita said, putting her hands on her hips with an annoyed expression. "That puzzle is so annoying."

"Well, we might as well get this over with," Yuri announced as he led the way up the stairs. Reaching the top, they found what they were looking for; sitting there on the on the pedestal is a red colored sphere. The dark haired man slowly picked the sphere up and looked around for a bit in case there are any traps. Nothing happened. Nodding, the man turned to them. "C'mon, we better get back to the others."

"All right then," Rita said, and Repede nodded. There's nothing else to do other than go back.

_**~o~**_

"What in the hell is this?"

Presea looked over at the Tethe'allan Chosen when he asked that, and looked back at what he was referring to. The path before them splits into three ways, each with a door before them. It seems the pathway they had chosen contained more hallways.

"It seems that this is a puzzle of sorts within the temple," Regal theorized.

"Well, yeah, but…what kind of puzzle is it anyways?" The red haired man asked, confused. "This doesn't make sense at all for me."

"Perhaps this kind of puzzle required three people in order to complete it," Presea theorized as well, looking between the three doors. It seemed to make sense; there are three of them, and there are three doors. But each one must have been used for different purposes – the problem is, they can't tell what lies beyond the doors.

"I suppose we have no choice but to take separate routes," Regal suggested, "It doesn't seem there is no other way to proceed. And the routes most likely have puzzles of their own, along with their own set of traps." Yes, that does seem logical.

Zelos let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh great, my first time in a seal, and I can already tell that I'm going to die…"

The pinkette looked over at the man in confusion. "You can?" The Chosen can really tell that he's going to die?

"…I believe he was exaggerating," Regal said.

"Oh."

Zelos sighed. "Let's just get this over with," he said, "Which path are you guys takin', eh?"

It took a while to decide, but the only entrance that's open is the one in the middle (since the one on the left has a keyhole on it and the other doesn't, oddly enough); not only that, but it's also a false entrance, where a person around Presea's size could possibly fit through. So it was decided that the lumberjack should be the one to go through the hole.

It took a bit for her to readjust the axe strapped to her back, to make it easier for her to crawl through the hole. Once she was at the other side, she noticed that the room she's in has a particular puzzle before her. There are what seem to be blocks that hover a little over the ground, with small symbols floating (lightning bolts but they are colored differently; two are blue, two are red and two are yellow). The girl glanced around the room, wondering around a little to see what the purpose of the puzzle is. She went over to a block (a red one) and gave it a light shove. When it hits a red floating symbol, the block…seemed to have absorbed it, and stopped in place, glowing in the same color as the symbol it absorbed.

"Huh," she let out, blinking a little. She glanced around a little, and decided to try something. She went over to a yellow block and pushed it to a blue symbol. Like she had thought, the yellow block merely phased through the symbol and hits the wall. The block disappeared, along with the other blocks (including the glowing one), and they reappeared where they previously were.

She let out a thoughtful grunt at this. So the objective of this puzzle is to push the colored blocks to their corresponding symbol in order to pass the test. And when she pushed another block to the other, she saw that they can stop each other. Nodding, Presea restarted the puzzle again and went to the top of the steps that leads to the door to the next room, looking over the room to figure out the best way to solve this puzzle. After looking over it for a few moments, she nodded and pushed the blocks this way and that way, until, after a few moments, all of the blocks are lighting up.

The room shook a little and she looked around a little, a bit puzzled. She looked at the door behind her; did something…happen? The pinkette couldn't tell what it is though. Presea moved over to the door and tried to use her strength to open it. It won't budge.

Then…what is the point of this puzzle? Presea then remembered her theory about the three doorways that was before them earlier. Maybe this puzzle opened another door for Zelos and Regal? If so, what sort of puzzle do they have to take care of? She isn't sure.

The lumberjack decided to wait until they solved the puzzles in the other two rooms. So she sat down near the door and waited.

It took a long while (hearing a faint rumble a few minutes later and another rumble another few minutes later) before the door behind her suddenly opened. On the other side is a very dark passage, the only source of light is the lightning that flashed periodically at times. From the light, she could see that there are three separate walkways. The one she is on goes under the two pathways, but she couldn't see further out. So Presea had to carefully walk on the walkway, using the lighting flash as the source of light to get across to the other side.

It took a while, but she made it on the other side, where there was a…switch on the ground. It was a kind that could be depressed by stepping on it, next to another door with a keyhole on it. Figuring that the switch looked important, she moved over to the switch and stepped on it. It depressed into the floor with a quiet click, and she heard a faint rumble again.

'_Did another door open?'_ She asked herself, looking around before looking up. Perhaps there are other switches like hers above her. Once again, she waited patiently for her two companions to open her door again…or somehow reveal the key to open the door.

And so she waited again, sitting in place as the lightning struck some part of the temple every once in a while. They say that lightning would strike the tallest object…and she was briefly worried that either Zelos or Regal would get hit by a lightning bolt. Lightning magic is painful, yes…but not very lethal; it all depends on the caster if they _wanted_ it to be lethal. Natural lighting, however, has no control on how lethal it is; it is pure, raw energy. A single strike could potentially kill someone. If they somehow survived, they would have lasting damages to their nerves for as long as they lived.

She heard a faint rumble again – either Zelos or Regal had opened another door for the other. It took a few moments, but she soon heard a faint rumble (again) and-

The pinkette heard something scrap and she looked to the source. A piece of the door frame opened up like a horizontal rectangle, revealing a key. Its design matched that of the entire temple, colored blue. Presea plucked it from the hole and inserted the key into the keyhole, turning it and there was a faint 'click' as the door was unlocked. She placed the key back to where she got it as the door opened up (she could've sworn the other doors above her opened as well) and she went through.

It was a hallway, lined with purple lights. Presea made her way down the hallway, going up the stairs at the end of it and eventually finding herself around a rather large circular platform with a…stand of sorts, with a red button on it. She tilted her head a little at this. What now?

"Yo!" She turned her head at the voice to see Zelos waving over at her on another platform to her right. "Glad to see that you're okay, Rosebud! Where the puzzles pretty bad?"

Presea tilted her head and then shook it. "It isn't that bad really," she answered.

The man groaned. "Of _course_ you'd get the easy one," he said, rubbing the small of his back, "I had to roll a huge ball over a walkway. With no walls! Do you have any idea how hard that is? ?"

…It seems like it.

"Presea," the pinkette turned to the new source, seeing Regal over at the other platform to her left, "are you all right?"

She blinked in confusion before nodding. "Yes, I'm fine. Zelos is here as well."

The blue haired convict nodded. "That's good." He looked back over at the stand before him, kneeling down to look at it. "…It seems like we may have to press the switches in a specific order."

"Aw, _what_?" Zelos let out, "Another puzzle?! I had enough of those for one day!"

"That may be," Regal spoke up, "But Colette is counting on us."

Zelos let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. So what order do we press 'em?"

The blue haired man looked over at the switched before him for a moment then looked back at them. "Perhaps we should try pressing them in the color of the strength of lighting. I have yellow over here."

"So…what does that mean, exactly?" The Chosen sounded confused by the puzzle.

"It means that we have to press them in the order of blue, yellow, and red," Presea automatically answered. She blushed – she reverted to her previous state again. She has to stop doing that.

"Oh, okay, I gotcha," Presea looked back at the red haired man as he turned to the stand and pressed the switch. "I press!" A rod came out of the stand as a response. …Is it a lightning rod?

"Presea, your turn," the girl nearly jumped at the sound of Regal's voice, but after a moment she nodded, concluding that Regal had pressed his switch already.

"Right," she nodded, then pressed her switch. The rod came out of the stand before her…and it started to radiate a red light before it sent out a beam of light, along with the yellow and blue light from both sides of her where her companions are; toward the top of a pillar that then shined in the darkness around them.

A new walkway formed from the platform before her and the other platforms, linking together into one and going all the way to the staircase connecting the pillar to the walkways.

The three of them silently walked on their walkways, joining together in their group again and made their way up the stairs. There, resting on the pedestal is the sphere they were looking for – colored blue. Zelos held up his hand, saying, "Allow me," in a suave-like voice and stepped forward to pick up the sphere. After lifting it off of the pedestal, he turned back to them. "Well, that was easy; it's like taking candy from a baby. Not like the Great Zelos would ever go so low to do that, though."

As he stepped away from the pedestal, Presea noticed that the small stand it was on started to sink. Her eyes went wide as Regal exclaimed, "Chosen, it's a trap!"

As soon as the man exclaimed that, what seemed to be gold colored…slime formed from the ground, and forming into five globs with a green orb within them. Presea drew her axe to defend the man as Regal charged forth; Zelos is holding the sphere in his hands, and is defenseless against them. The two of them made quick work of the Gold Slimes.

"…O…kay, I was _not_ expecting that," Zelos admitted, staring down at the now oozing slimes as the cores where sliced in half or crushed into mush.

"The others may or may not have gone through the same ambush we did," Regal said, looking over the ooze. He straightened up and looked back at the other two. "We best return to the others and see if they found their own spheres."

"Yes."

"Sure, whatever," they both said at the same time.

_**~o~**_

The task was rather arduous for three groups, but they had managed to return safely back to the previous room they were in, the one that has the seal. They each had been on their paths for an hour at most (another hour for Yuri's group), and it took another hour to get back.

No one had said anything; they know that they are one step closer to bring Volt in. They headed up the altar, and the leaders of the three groups placed the spheres in the indents of their respective colors. Stepping back, Yuri looked over at the Summoner. "So, what now?" He asked, "Is there something else we need to do?"

"Um…" Sheena tried to rack her brain to remember how to call upon Volt.

Lloyd looked over at something in the middle of the seal and made his way over it. "Hey, what does this switch do?" He asked, raising a finger to press it.

The others saw and the Sage siblings tried to stop him. "Wait, Lloyd-!" Raine tried to say-

But Lloyd had already pressed it, with it making a 'click'.

A few moments after that, they all heard thunder rumbling. "Lloyd…what the hell did you do? ?" Rita questioned as they all looked around warily.

Yuri just happened to look down saw the spheres sparking with electricity. "Lloyd, get out of there!" He shouted, rushing in and pulling the red clad twin swordsman off of the seal.

Just in time, too, because the spheres let out bolts of colored lightning colored as their body and shooting up into the sky, to the lightning rods stationed above them and the lightning shot up into the circular hole just above the seal.

Everyone stared up at the hole for a few moments, some of them blinking. Then, there was a loud crack (making most of them jump and wince at the loud sound) before streams of purple lighting came down from the hole and it morphed into a…sphere of sorts.

It formed into a giant ball of lighting, with protrusions within the lighting sticking out of the purple sphere within, and it seemed to have its eyes closed, with the 'eyes' having a golden outline. It then snapped its eyes open, revealing them to be red with yellow irises, and stared down at them.

"Whoa…so much Mana…" Genis let out as they stepped back a bit from the Summon Spirit of Lightning.

"Damn…" Yuri breathed out, putting an arm up as if to cover his eyes. For some odd reason, every part of him is tingling…but not the kind he felt when he was excited for a good fight.

He and Lloyd looked over at Sheena, seeing her face deathly pale and her eyes wide in horror as her body shook. The red clad boy walked over to Sheena and put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said gently, like he had ever since they had got to the temple.

Sheena jerked and glanced over at him. She hesitated, before nodding. "O-Okay," she said softly before looking back at the Summon Spirit of Lightning, taking in a shaky breathe and exhaled. "Okay, here I go," she announced, wishing that she felt as confident as she sound. She slowly approached the seal, and she jumped when the Summon Spirit looked down at her.

And Volt…spoke? They weren't sure, but it wasn't in English or any other language they had heard of…but Raine's eyes went wide, understanding him.

Sheena trembled before the spirit. No, not again! "I-It's just like before!" She let out in panic. "What the hell is he saying?!"

The Professor stepped forward and stood next to the ninja. "Sheena, calm down," she said softly to her. "He's speaking in an ancient pre-angelic language. I'll translate."

All eyes turned to Raine as she cleared her throat, and said, "'I am one who is bound to Mithos. Who are you?'"

"Wait, what?" Lloyd let out, stunned. "Mithos again? How could he have made pacts in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant?"

Genis hummed, rubbing his chin a little. "…Maybe he went back and forth with a Rheaird as well," the boy suggested.

Yuri had a troubled look on his face at that. "No…" he muttered low enough to himself, gazing to the ground, "Something doesn't make sense…"

"Yuri…?" Presea let out, blinking at the dark clad man.

He merely shook his head. "It's nothing," he said (though a part of him doesn't seem convinced), and looked over at Sheena. "You ready?"

The ninja took in another deep breathe to calm herself, and sighed, taking another step forward. "I am Sheena! I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me," she stated, the waver in her voice beginning to subside.

Volt was silent for a moment, staring down at them. Then he spoke again in his strange language.

Raine frowned. "He says that his pact with Mithos is broken…but he no longer desires a pact."

"What?! Why? ?" Sheena exclaimed in shock as they looked over at Raine and back at the spirit when he spoke again, his eyes narrowed.

"'I will have no more dealings with people,'" the Professor translated, "'therefor I desire no pact. Especially with'…what?" She let out in confusion.

"What?" Lloyd asked, warily putting his hands onto his swords-

Yuri's eyes went wide. "Watch out!" He shouted as he gripped Sheena, using his body as a shield-

There was a booming sound and everyone cried out as they felt a shockwave from Volt's power, blinding them for a moment…until they crashed onto the ground on the first floor, feeling electricity running through their bodies. For some reason, Raine and Regal were the most affected by the shocks.

Yuri was also twitching badly – gasping for breath – lying on top of Sheena, feeling the Lightning element running through his body. Sheena had regained herself to look over to the dark haired man, her eyes wide. "Yuri!" She exclaimed as she shifted herself so that he was the one lying on the ground and she propped his body up, hearing him groan in pain.

She looked around at the others. They were twitching, and some were moaning from the shock they had gotten earlier. Her eyes went wide in horror, upon seeing this. She didn't see the others…she saw the bodies of the Mizuhoans that had went with her on that day. Her body shook and she shook her head. "N-No… This…this is- it's just like before!"

She was oblivious to the Summon Spirit that was floating down to behind her, narrowing his eyes at Yuri. He spoke in the pre-angelic language like before, charging up a ball of Lightning Mana…but Raine was barely able to make out what the spirit was saying. _Barely_. "What…?" She let out, her eyes wide in shock.

Everyone was trying to get over the shock coursing through their bodies, struggling to push themselves up. Lloyd had managed to push himself up to see the danger that Sheena was unaware of, seeing the terror in her brown eyes. "Sh-Sheena, look out!" He called out, getting up to his knees-

But Volt had already launched the lightning ball towards the ninja. Time seemed to have gone slow as the others tried to push themselves up, exclaiming Sheena's name. The Summoner, with her eyes still wide, turned to the spirit behind her, letting out a gasp as Yuri barely managed to open his eyes with a grimace…

…And something small, yellow and furry with three blue tails got onto Sheena's shoulder and jumped off, going towards the ball of lightning-

And everything suddenly speeds up as the artificial Summon Spirit let out a scream as he felt the lightning coursing through his small body.

Everyone was in shock. But none more so than Sheena, who, in horror, shrieked, "_CORRINE! ! !"_

It seemed to have lasted forever, all of them watching in horror as the small spirit suffered the blow that was meant for Sheena. But it was only for a moment, before the attack ended and the spirit fell limply to the ground.

Yuri had gone over the shock that was coursing through his body, but he continued to stare with wide eyes at the limp body of the small spirit that had risked his life to save them (unconsciously reliving that moment, four years ago…); even when Sheena ran over to Corrine and cradled his small body in her arms.

"Corrine! Why?! Why did you do it? ! ?" She was hysterical, tears freely falling from her eyes. This- No, why does it have to be Corrine? ? WHY?!

The Summon Spirit didn't even blink at the scene unfolding before him, moving to another angle to get at to the female ninja and fired another lightning ball at her-

Lloyd had quickly regained himself and used his sword to deflect the Lightning Mana away from the woman. "Sheena, get a hold of yourself! !" He exclaimed at her, then used Demonic Chaos to keep the Spirit at bay, to get him from getting to Sheena.

"…But! !" Sheena choked out, still cradling the small spirit in her arms; for once, she doesn't care about the tears running down her cheeks.

Corrine let out a small grunt to get her attention, and said, weakly, "Volt's…just lost his faith in people. Please, Sheena, make your vow and try forming a pact one more time. You can do it, Sheena!" Spores of light started to drift off of his body as the small thing coughed.

"No, Corrine! !" She exclaimed, shaking her head vehemently, "You can't die! Please!"

"I'm…sorry Sheena," he apologized, as more spores drifted off of him, "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help…"

"Don't say that!" She shouted, "You've helped us out in more ways than I could count! Please! !"

"…Sheena…please…promise me," Corrine said, his voice getting weaker and faint, "Promise me that…you'll save Colette and the two worlds…I know…I know that you can do it…I…be…lieve…in you…Sheena…" The spirit fell limp in her arms, as spores drifted off from all over his body.

"Corrine…?" She whimpered out before, before her eyes, the spirit disintegrated, the spores floating up into the air and vanishing, the bell that hangs around the spirit's neck falling to the ground. The young woman looked up at the spores that used to be her friend, her eyes wide and her mouth agape in shock…before she bit her lip as more tears came down from her eyes, shaking her head as if she was denying what she had just saw and she let out, "_NOOOO! ! ! !_" Her voice, filled with grief, despair, and heartbreak rings around the room, the young woman gripping her head before she cried in her hands.

For those that hadn't seen her like this, it was…shocking to see the normally composed woman to be like this. They had nearly forgotten about Volt, who began to attack the red clad boy seemingly in anger.

It was at that moment that everyone else had gotten into motion, most getting to their feet and rushing to help Lloyd distract the spirit as the rest slowly recovered. Yuri was brought out of his stupor and shook his head, forcing himself to stand despite the electricity still in his system and sluggishly ran over to the ninja. "Sheena, come on! You have to snap out of it!" He told her, lightly shaking her by the shoulder.

"But…" She choked out, her hands covering her face. "Corrine…he's dead because of me…!"

Yuri gritted his teeth. He hated it when people cry like this; he hated seeing most people like this, especially those close to him. Sheena isn't particularly close to him, but-!

Dammit, he hated being so useless, and-!

"I know what it's like." The words came out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

The dark haired woman looked over at him, her eyes wide as streaks of tears glistened on her face. "…What?"

The swordsman hesitated, not sure on how to answer that. What was it he was talking about, when he said 'I know what it's like'? Then he remembered what spurred him to say that. Slowly, he started with:

"I…know what it's like, seeing a person dying in front of you and you can't do anything about it. This may came as a surprise, but…back on my world, I was a part of the Imperial Knights. I joined them in hopes of changing the system from within, to give everyone a better life where I live; where everyone can live as equals. Not by status or any of the sorts."

He didn't realize that Raine heard him as he talked to Sheena, as he continued, "But, one time, a week before I left, I was unable to save my Captain's life. I don't like taking orders, but for a good reason; what's the point of being in the Knights if I can't save the people in front of me? The Captain obeyed orders in the past, and it cost him the lives of his wife and daughter – he didn't want to commit the same mistake again. That's why…he told us to leave him behind, sacrificing his life to save ours and the people of the town where I was stationed at."

A stray lightning bolt hurled towards them, but Yuri stood up quickly and deflected it away with a quickly drawn sword, his scabbard laying some place on the floor now. "None of us wanted his sacrifice to be in vain," the man said, standing there in a sluggish stance, "So…you can't let Corrine's sacrifice be in vain as well. It hurts, I know, but we have to move on for their sakes. We have to subdue Volt by force, in order to get that pact. If you don't, you'll spend the rest of your life haunted by his shadow; you won't be able to overcome your fear."

He looked over at her and made a smirk at her. "We'll try to hold him off for as long as we could," he told her, "So take all the time you need to get your wits."

With that, the man charged into the fight to help the others keep Volt at bay. Sheena stared at the man's back, slowly digesting the words he had said to her.

With the others, they were doing everything they can to keep the Summon Spirit of Lightning away from Sheena and the others still down. Lloyd launched a Double Demon Fang at Volt, and had to jump away to avoid a Spark Wave from the spirit. Presea launched herself at the spirit, landing a Dual Infliction onto him, and had to protect herself with her barrier from a lightning attack. Zelos used Hell Pyre to get Volt's attention off of the lumberjack girl, followed by a Stone Blast, in which he had no choice but to flee from the oncoming lightning strikes until Repede saved him with Hell Hound.

The red haired man can't help but stare at that. "…Wow, a dog breathing fire? Never seen that happen before- AHH!" He let out the part when he ran away from a Thunder Blade from Volt. He felt bits of it, but it barely _tingled_ him. But he was panicking too much to notice.

The two mages gave each other a look and nodded. "Let's try that move we've been working on," Genis suggested.

"Okay," Rita nodded, and the two 'linked' up again.

Genis got into stance and prepared himself to use a new Magic Arte. _"Body of Earth, come forth as spears to entomb thy enemy! Grave!"_ Spears of granite rock came from the ground, piercing onto Volt, practically entombing the spirit.

Then, they began. Their Link Arte.

"_Great Earth, fall onto thy enemy…" _Genis chanted, as Rita said:

"_Crush our enemies…"_

"_**Rock Mountain! !**_" They called out as giant boulders – coming from nowhere – fell onto Volt, damaging him, until a bigger one landed on him, nearly crushing him.

"What the hell was that?!" Lloyd asked, after a moment of stunned surprise.

"Later! He's getting back up!" Genis called out as Volt slowly rise up, the electric buzz becoming loud, informing them that he's pissed off.

"Dammit!" Rita growled out, "That Link Arte barely did anything to him!"

A purple spell sigil appeared under the Summon Spirit, and no one is sure what type of magic spell it is. But Genis and Rita could tell that is powerful…and _deadly_. But before Volt could finish it, an 'X' shaped projectile hit him, stunning him for a moment before he (and the others) turned to the source.

Yuri smirked as he held his sword in his right hand. "About time I got that Arte down," he said.

Volt is livid. He fired a stream of lightning at the man, but he quickly jumped out of the way to avoid it in time. Fortunately, the other three combatants were not in the line of fire behind him, so they are safe…for the moment.

"Okay," Yuri made sure he had a firm grip onto his sword, "let's see if a Burst Arte will do." He isn't sure if he can go into Overlimit without his Bodhi Blastia…but some of the things he did when he arrived on Tethe'alla didn't make since, really. What does he got to lose?

And besides, Volt is weak against Earth and Water, right? He might as well give it a shot.

When Volt was close to him (and ignoring the others shouting their concern) it was time to act. **"I'll blow you away!"** He shouted and, drawing in some Mana (like he remembered doing countless times back on Terca Lumireis) unleashed a burst of power that knocked Volt back.

Damn, it isn't a level three Overlimit, he thought. His battle spirit must have weakened when he arrived here. He'll have to work on making it stronger again.

When Volt got back up, he decided to do an Altered Arte of Final Gale (the Arte that he had used on Volt earlier) into another, Frigid Blast. Making an 'X' shaped sheet of ice before the spirit, he launched his hand forth and the ice shattered forth, knocking Volt back.

Then he activated the Altered Arte of his Burst Arte.

"_Water Rise!"_ He punched the ground and a circle of blue light appeared under him and Volt. _"Divine Wolf…"_ He thrust his sword onto the ground, shouting, _"Flood!"_ As water burst forth from the ground, knocking the spirit back and onto the ground.

As he was left panting, the others that hadn't seen a Burst Arte stared. "Whoa…" Lloyd let out, awed.

Genis took a hesitant step forward. "Did…Did we get him?"

Staring at the downed form of Volt, panting from exertion (since it's been a while since he used the Overlimit AND a Burst Arte), at part of him was screaming at him that something is wrong. He wasn't sure what it is though.

He was about to speak-

Volt's eyes shot open and – quicker than the eye – launched a bolt of lightning at Yuri that sent him flying to the pillar. The back of the man's head hit the pillar hard (fearing that he may have cracked his skull), and Yuri fell to the floor, stunned and once again felt the electricity coursing through his body again.

"Yu-" One of them were unable to finish before most of them were forced to pull up their barriers when multiple lightning bolts fell from the sky and danced in front of them.

"What the hell?!" Rita let out, seeing the…barrier in front of them. "Why did he put this up? ?"

Presea's eyes went wide when she realized what the spirit is planning. "He's aiming to kill Yuri."

"What?!" Lloyd let out, them staring at the girl in shock and back at the spirit coming closer to the dark haired man. "D-Dammit! What the hell do we do?!"

What CAN they do?

All they could do was watch as the spirit prepared to finish the man, a circle of purple light appearing under them. The light glowed brighter, and-

Something flew at Volt and made a small explosion. It didn't do much damage, but it did get the spirit's attention.

Sheena stood, cards in her hands as she glared at Volt with her eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare hurt him," she said, her tone vicious. "For twelve years I've lived with the fact that I've accidentally killed many people attempting to forge a pact with you. The only reason why we came here was to seek your help to aid our friend. But you decided to try to kill us. And…" Her free hand clenched in anger, and she yelled, "I am not letting you kill any more of my friends!"

"For the sake of everyone that risked their lives to protect me…Volt, I demand your power!" At her roar, she threw multiple seals at the spirit and blasted him back, away from the man. As Sheena charged at the Volt with more seals in her hands, Raine – who recovered along with Regal (the man charging in to help Sheena) – quickly made her way over to Yuri and casted the Heal Healing Arte on the man.

The flow of the Arte managed to heal the wounds he may have gotten, and made it easier for him to breathe. Yuri is grateful for that, and as he takes in life saving oxygen, he watched Sheena throw multiple Mirage Seals and Power Seals at the spirit, casting a Sylva Seal: Water onto Regal for him to do damage to Volt. He made a small smile. "Way to go, Sheena…" He muttered.

"Don't talk," Raine said to the man gently, working to heal the man. She shook her head, remembering the man's actions against the spirit. "That was rather reckless of you to do that."

Yuri made a mirthful grunt, but winced, reminding him of the condition he was in. "Well, I get that a lot."

The silver haired half-elf sighed. "You're not invincible, you know that," she said.

The dark haired man made a soft sigh, smiling almost sadly. "Yeah…some people think I am," he admitted, "But…sometimes it's easier to think that when protecting others."

Raine's expression softened a little at the words. The words he said…weren't of arrogance. The words he had said to Sheena before he charged at Volt…the man's voice said that he had been through the pain Sheena had gone through, so much like Lloyd. Yuri Lowell…the things he may have done couldn't be explained at times, but…he acted out those things to protect people. Yuri protected herself and Genis from the Papal Knights when they were to be executed, protected Lloyd and Colette when they were separated back at the forest, saved Presea before she would be kidnapped by Rodyle, and did his best to protect Sheena, herself and Regal to buy them time to recover, and for Sheena to regain her confidence.

Yuri is a protector. And…he will keep protecting others, for as long as he lives.

Seeing that the dark haired man isn't looking, she made a soft smile. The man accepted her and Genis for who they are, despite knowing them as half-elves. Perhaps…that is what Lloyd had saw in Yuri – the man has his own brand of kindness, reserved for those he trusts and hadn't betrayed them.

She will put her trust within this man; just as Lloyd put his trust onto Yuri. Raine knew he and Rita has more secrets…but, she will take her time to trust him; one day, they will tell them.

An explosion got their attention and they turned back to the fight, seeing Sheena and Regal skidding back a bit. They're still standing, but the two are panting. Anymore hits and it might be it for them. Raine stood up and Yuri slowly got himself up, gathering his sword.

"You ready?" Yuri said, glancing at the half-elf.

Raine looked back at him…and nodded.

**(You know what? This deserves some epic music! I figured this fits better.)**

_**~ The Wise One – Tales of Vesperia (In case you didn't know, it's the Entelexia battle song) ~**_

The two got into stance and Yuri charged in as Raine quickly used Nurse to heal Sheena and Regal. Recovered, Regal quickly joined the fray as Sheena used Sylva Seal: Water on Yuri to allow him to damage Volt and did the same to Regal and herself before jumping in herself.

Sheena launched a barrage of Mirage Seal, Serpent Seal and Power Seal to weaken Volt, Yuri whaling on Volt with a Brutal Fang along with Regal who used Triple Kick, followed by Swallow Kick and Rising Dragon. Meanwhile, Raine used Photon, and casted a new spell called 'Resist' (she isn't sure where she learned it, but it's useful for the others to defend them against magic attack; somewhat similar to Barrier) onto Sheena; she then casted Keenness onto Yuri and Field Barrier on herself and others to defend themselves against any physical damage Volt might pull on them.

When it looked like Volt was about to do another spell, Regal quickly jumped in and used a new Arte, Super Swallow Dance, to stun Volt before Yuri used Azure Edge to knock Volt to the ground. After a moment, Volt floated back up and shook himself, and spoke in the pre-angelic language for a moment.

…For a moment, Raine thought she heard something exclaim, _Great!_

After a few moments of pounding the Summon Spirit, the Summoner jumped back. "Think we can finish him with Link Artes?" She asked the four.

"Link Artes?" Yuri asked, looking over at her.

"It is a type of special move between two people," Regal explained, "They have to use either two Strike Artes, two Magic Artes – like Genis and Rita performed earlier – or one Strike and one Magic Arte for it to work. However, in order for it to work, a certain amount of trust between the two users has to be strong enough for them to perform one. That is because your life literally depends on your partner."

"Huh, so that's how it works," Yuri mused, and Raine is also impressed. An amount of trust between two people, eh?

"Think we can pull this off?" Sheena asked.

Yuri shrugged. "Might as well try."

"Here we go then!" Sheena exclaimed and activated the 'link' to Yuri. "It's similar to what Genis and Rita did, use any Arte you can think of you think is compatible to either of ours."

"All right, here we go!" Yuri said and he decided to use Final Gale on Volt, knocking him back.

Then a flash appeared around himself and Sheena. _"Ready?"_ Yuri called out.

"_**Gale Seal! !**_" They shouted as Sheena threw two seals and Yuri launched a Final Gale, knocking Volt into the air and the seals became attached to Volt, and they exploded, sending the spirit onto the ground.

Another flash appeared, coming from Yuri and Raine this time. "_Now!"_ Raine shouted.

"_**Photon Gale! !**_" They shouted as Yuri once again launched the 'X' shaped projectile – filled with light this time when Raine lifted her staff – at Volt where it exploded upon impact.

"Finish it!" Sheena shouted and Regal jumped in with Dragon Fury.

_**~Song fades out~**_

Volt fell back down onto the ground, eyes closed. The four panted heavily from the battle they had gone through. They weren't sure if it was over. The spirit twitched and the four jerked at the movement. The spirit's eyes fluttered open and he slowly floated up to the ground, staring down at them. Everyone in the room is tense. Will Volt strike again?

To their surprise, Volt closed his eyes and said something in pre-angelic.

The lightning barrier faded away and the others ran over to the four combatants. "Guys, are you okay? ?" Was the first thing Lloyd shouted when they got to them.

"For the most part," Yuri said, having a tired smile on his face.

Genis was busy hugging his sister with a death grip. "Raine, I was so afraid!" He cried onto her. The boy never wanted to let go of his dear sister again.

Raine smiled gently and rubbed her young brother on his head. "It's all right Genis," she assured him, "We're all alive."

They heard speaking and they turned to Volt once again, the spirit speaking in his language again. Raine's eyes went wide and looked over at Sheena. "Sheena, Volt is asking you to make your vow."

All heads turned to the woman, and back at the spirit. Sheena was stunned. "It's…over…?"

She felt two hands on her shoulders and she looked to the source, seeing Yuri and Lloyd giving her a gentle smile. She made a smile herself and nodded, before stepping forward to the spirit, feeling confident. "…Like I said, for the sake of everyone that risked their lives to protect me…and for Corrine's sake, I vow to protect these people and save the two worlds that lived in a system that requires the sacrifice of those that risked everything to save others!"

There was a few seconds of tense silence…before Raine spoke up again.

"'The vow has been made,'" she translated. "'I entrust my power to the pact-maker, Sheena!'"

Volt closed his eyes and a bit of lighting seeped from his body to go into a small purple light. The small ball floated down to Sheena and she grasped it lightly. Opening her hand, there sat a ring. A ring made of silver metal with a small, light purple gem on it called Sardonyx.

She held it up to her face, her eyes wide in disbelief and awe. "I…I can't believe it…" She murmured. Sheena turned to them, an excited look on her face. "I did it! I made a pact with Volt!"

"All right!" Lloyd exclaimed, pumping his fist. "See? I told you it'd all work out!"

Yuri's expression turned sober. "…But at what cost?" He muttered, shifting his foot-

He blinked when his foot kicked something and he looked down. It was…the bell that hung around Corrine's neck, surprisingly not crushed due to the battle they had with Volt earlier. The man bent down and picked up the object, with it jingling a little as he straightened up.

The sound reminded everyone of the sacrifice that was made today, and the mood turned solemn. "…Corrine…" Sheena muttered.

Yuri turned to her and held the bell out to her. "Here, I figured that having this, it'll be like keeping Corrine close to you."

The young woman stared down at the bell, at Yuri, back at the bell…and gently picks it up. Closing her eyes, she held it close to her chest in both hands. "Thank you…Corrine."

Everyone bowed their heads in a moment of silence for the small Summon Spirit.

Suddenly, they heard water splashing and all heads turned to see Undine, her and Volt looking up at the ceiling, looking apprehensive. "Huh…? What's Undine doing here?" Genis asked, voicing their confusion.

The two spirits didn't answer…until Volt spoke in the pre-angelic language.

Raine blinked. "'The two opposing forces of Mana were…severed just now?'" She translated.

The others looked over at her. "…What the hell does that mean…?" Yuri asked.

The group looked back at the spirits, as they looked back down at them…

* * *

***pokes her head in, looks around for a moment, and walks in with a shy wave* Uh, hi readers. Since the others aren't here, I just wanted to say this real quick: TODAY IS THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF ANGELS OF STARS! WOO!**

**I felt it was justified, so I made this chapter pretty long. Also…I kinda have to end it there; I have another thing planned, something that I've been planning for a long, long while. How was the battle with Volt? Is it to your liking? I hope so; I worked hard on it and on the Temple of Lightning. I wanted it to be original…though, some of the puzzles are based on the Zelda series and one in particular is based on a puzzle in Star Fox Adventures. For those you have played the latter, see if you can spot it.**

_Another spin off from Tales of Vesperia; Secret Mission wise._

_Secret Mission Complete! Knock down Volt before he can use Indignation!_

**Leave a review everyone!**

**(And by the way, the fourth part is all third pov. Just to get that out of the way.)**


	24. Chapter 22

A plot-twist for the story! I have been planning for this for a while. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing! That is all.**

* * *

Night had fallen hours after they left the Temple of Lightning. They are waiting for the Mizuhoan ninjas that will inform them of the whereabouts of the Rheairds. No one is sure who it might be, but they weren't concerned about it right now.

Raine dipped the small rag into a small basin of water, soaking it completely before she wrings the water out of it, making it damp. Flapping it a couple of times, she folded the rag in half and placed it on Yuri's forehead, the man lying on a small mat. A small blanket covered him, and his vest, belt and sword were removed to make the man more comfortable; his cheeks flushed as he gasped in some air (which is slowly evening out as time went by). It had been a few hours and the man is still out of it.

The half-elven woman heard the canine whine in worry, glancing over at the dog as his head is next to the man. Even though Raine barely knew the dog, she could tell that Repede is worried for the man. She glanced over at the red clad girl, sitting near the fire with her knees drawn close to her chest. Although Rita doesn't show it, she's also worried for the dark clad man. Everyone else is worried about the man as well.

Raine's expression softened, remembering what had occurred hours ago, back in the Temple of Lightning…

_Sometime earlier…_

"It is as Volt has said," Undine said, looking down at them, "The Mana that flows from the world in which the Summon Spirits sleep, to the world in which the Summon Spirits are awake – the link between them has been severed. This is the first time the Summon Spirits have been awakened in both worlds at the same time, ever since it was established 4000 years before."

"Four thousand years before?" Lloyd asked, most of them blinking in confusion.

Undine just shook her head. "It is not important right now," she told them, "What is important is the fact that the mana connecting the two worlds has been eliminated."

"So wait a minute," Sheena spoke up quickly, taking a step forward. "Does that mean that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla have stopped competing for each other's Mana?"

Volt spoke in pre-angelic, and Raine quickly translated, "'I do not know. The only thing certain is that the flow of Mana between the worlds has been severed.'"

Raine could've sworn she heard Yuri mutter something to himself, but her attention is diverted when Undine spoke up. "Yes," the Summon Spirit nodded, "Eventually the worlds shall separate…"

"You mean the two worlds will split apart?" Genis asked, most of them looking surprised.

"Yeah, that's perfect!" Zelos exclaimed, bobbing his fist into his hand as if he got it. "If what they're saying is true, then they'll stop competing for each other's Mana!"

Raine rubbed her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly, there are five seals – in which the Chosen has to open – in total within Sylvarant, and perhaps the same for Tethe'alla as well," she said, "And since there wasn't a Summon Spirit at the fifth seal, then we should be able to sever all of the Mana links if we awaken the Summon Spirits that correspond to the other four seals." It seemed simple…but something is telling her that something doesn't seem right. Could the worlds really separate if they did so?

"Well, it's something to go with for now," Yuri said, "We'll probably may have to cross that bridge after we save Colette."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lloyd agreed and they all looked back at the two spirits. "So, in short, if we awaken Tethe'alla AND Sylvarant's Summon Spirits, we'll save Sylvarant without having Tethe'alla go into decline, right?"

"At the least, the Mana connecting the worlds will disappear and the two worlds will separate," Undine answered- Raine blinked. Why did the Spirit look apprehensive when she said that?

The Spirit shook her head, and looked down at Sheena. "Please, stay true to your word…Summon Spirits do not take lightly to betrayal." With that, the two spirits faded away in purple and blue lights.

Everyone stood in silence afterwards. "…What does she mean by 'Summon Spirits do not take lightly to betrayal'?" Presea asked.

"…I'm not sure," Raine admitted – she isn't sure what the Spirit meant as well.

"Well, who cares right now?" Rita spoke up, as they turned to each other, "We may have a clue to how to stop the tug of war for Mana for both worlds, right?"

Regal nodded. "Yes; the seals may serve as a link between the two worlds," he said, "And if we forged a pact with all of them…"

Lloyd hummed as he rubbed his chin. "If that's the case, then after get the Rheairds and save Colette, we might have shot at saving both worlds."

"If not, then we might have some more arsenal against Cruxis," Yuri piped in with a wry grin. "I doubt the 'angels' would be a match against Summon Spirits, anyway."

Presea nodded, "Yes." She turned her head to look over at Sheena. "We owe our thanks to you Sheena…and Corrine as well."

"Huh?" The ninja let out in surprise.

"If you hadn't risked your lives making the pact with Volt," the girl explained, "then we wouldn't be able to find out what the seals do."

Sheena's expression fell, and she looked back down at the bell in her hand. "…Yeah," she said, clenching the small thing in her hand and held it to her chest.

Lloyd looked over at the woman in sadness and walked over to her, placing his hand onto her shoulder. "If it'll make you feel better, we'll do a burial for Corrine."

The woman looked over at the boy in surprise then blushed. "Th-Thank you, Lloyd…"

For the woman's sake, the trip back out of the seal room was silent.

However, it was when they left the room when she heard a small groan. "Yuri, what's wrong?" Lloyd's question made the Professor glance back at the two curiously, seeing that Yuri and Lloyd had stopped, the former covering his face with his hand while the latter looked over him in worry.

Yuri shook his head. "I…I don't…" He trailed off, his hand slipping down his face a little-

The female half-elf blinked when she noticed a…blank look in Yuri's eyes, before began to sway, landing on his knees and falling to his side. "Yuri!" Lloyd cried out and Raine automatically went over to the man's side. Kneeling by him, she gently turned the man so that his back was to the ground, and she noted with alarm at how pale (well, paler than normal) the man's skin had gotten in such a short time. His cheeks were also flushed, there was a bit of sweat on his skin, and he panted as if he couldn't get in enough air in his lungs.

Frowning, she placed her hand on the man's forehead. Her eyes went wide in shock and she drew her hand back. "He's running a fever," she reported to them as the others crowded around the three on the ground.

"But, that doesn't make sense!" Sheena exclaimed, "He was fine a moment ago!"

"Strange…" Presea noted.

"You don't think his fight with Volt did this to him…?" Genis guessed, uncertain.

Raine shook her head. "I don't think that's it," she said. She glanced over at Rita, seeing the girl biting the tip of her thumb as she looked over the man. "Rita, do you or Repede feel strange at all?" The three of them are from a world with no Mana after all; if Yuri is affected by…something, then it's possible that-

The female brunette looked over at the half-elf in surprise. "What? No, I don't feel any different," she told her, "And…" she glanced back at Yuri, her brows furrowing. "This is the first time I've ever seen him get sick like this. In the time I've traveled with him, I haven't seen him get sick; not once."

"Really?" Zelos let out in surprise. "Yuri must've had one hell of a tolerance, then."

Somehow, Raine doubted that. She thought it was strange for someone who would normally wouldn't get sick to just…get sick, just like that. "Do you know someone else who might know Yuri better?" The woman asked the mage from Aspio.

"The only one who knew him is Flynn," she answered, "But we have no idea where he's at right now."

Raine furrowed her brows. This won't do – had she made a misjudgment in putting her trust into this man so soon? But something was telling her that there's…more to it, than that. Something that Yuri doesn't know, perhaps? She isn't sure; she hated not being able to know something she doesn't have an answer to. It's frustrating.

She shook her head. Getting Yuri out of here takes more priority than 'what ifs' and questions. "Whatever the case, we should get Yuri out of here and find a place to camp out for tonight," she said.

"Right, so…who's carrying Yuri?" Zelos asked, and the woman can tell that he didn't want to be stuck with the job to do so – or at least, the tonal quality in his voice sounded like that.

"It's okay, I'll do it," Lloyd said, standing up to do so.

"Lloyd-"

"If I may," all heads turned to Regal when he spoke up. He twisted his hands a little, and with a grunt, managed to break the link between his cuffs. Now the man could use his hands freely with the cuffs still on him. "There, that's better," he said, wiggling his hands a little.

Most of them stared. "…You could do that the whole time?" Lloyd asked, voicing what was on everyone's mind.

"Yes," he admitted, "but I choose not to until now. Yuri needs this more; I'll have the links fixed later." The man bent down and gently lifts Yuri in his arms. "And besides, Yuri isn't as heavy as he looks."

"Well…if you're sure, Regal," Lloyd said, looking a little hesitant. But the boy glanced over at the dark clad man, who is still gasping for breath, and nodded.

Everyone slowly followed Regal out, but Raine paused for a moment, glancing back at the room where the seal is. She narrowed her eyes a little, recalling the words Volt had spoken of during the whole time…especially when Volt had attempted to kill Yuri and Sheena before Corrine had died.

"…Why would Volt call Yuri a demon?" She asked herself, before she followed the others to exit the temple…

_Now…_

The woman sighed, running a hand over her face. It's been a couple of hours (the sun was setting when they got out) since they had set foot outside of the temple, and so far, Yuri still hadn't woken up. Lloyd, Rita, Repede, Sheena and – strangely enough – Zelos were worried about the dark haired swordsman; the red clad boy fretting over him for the past hour as they tried to find a place to make camp. Once they had settled, they all decided that they should wait until either Yuri recovers from his strange illness, or – according to Sheena – wait for the messengers that would inform them of the whereabouts of the Rheairds. Sheena had sent out a carrier pigeon to deliver the message of their success to the Vice-Chief.

She informed the others that if the Vice-Chief received the message, it'll only be a couple of hours before the messengers would arrive.

So now it's all in the matter of waiting for either Yuri to wake up or for the ninjas to arrive. And it seemed his condition had slightly improved, but not much, which worries her. What could be causing this illness? She had tried to see if it was a spell that was ailing him – using Recover, Purify and Dispel – but nothing had worked. If it's not a spell, then…what is it?

Wait, she thought as her head jerked up a little, remembering something. There was a…leak from the Mana Link she felt after Volt and Undine disappeared. And…if what Rodyle had said about Yuri – and from what she and Genis felt from the man – when Colette was kidnapped is true, then…is it possible-?

No. Something…Something doesn't make sense. As far as Yuri (and his two companions and some others) know, the man is from Terca Lumireis. There aren't any elves over there – only Krityans. But…the feel of that blood running through the man's veins is unmistakable. Because she felt that its similar to her mother, herself, her brother and many elven kind they had met so far. If that's the case, then…

She heard footsteps and turned to the source, seeing her student walking over to them. He sat down next to Repede, the dog using himself as a pillow for the man – the boy looking down at the man with a worried frown. "Professor…is he going to be okay?" He asked, staring down at the man's face.

The half-elven woman frowned and looked down at the man's face. She used the cloth from his forehead (after making it cold again) to dap some sweat off of his face – and in an attempt to cool down his rising temperature. "I'm not sure," she said, "He hasn't woken up in a while."

Lloyd groaned as he fell backwards onto the grass. "I know that we have to save Colette and all…but then THIS came up," he said, looking up at the sky, now clear of thunderclouds. It seemed that, when they forged a pact with Volt, the thunderclouds seemed to have gone away. Some that remained, however, don't give off lightning as much now. The boy looked back to the two. "It's not like I blame Yuri for this, it's just…"

"Unexpected?" The Professor finished for the boy when he trailed off.

"Yeah," he nodded. The boy looked back up at the sky. "I can't help but wonder…what will we do with Yuri if he doesn't get any better? I don't want to leave Yuri behind, but I can't abandon Colette either. I just…" Raising his hand, he ran it down his face, and sighed. "I just don't know what to do."

Oh Lloyd…the boy had changed much since the journey of World Regeneration. At least he isn't as…bloodthirsty as he was back then – outright killing Desians left and right. It unnerved her at first, but…after a while, the boy started to mourn for the death of the person he killed or those that had died before him. It made him soft, yes, but…perhaps it's a good thing that he is. He became more open minded to a lot of things. Perhaps that's the reason why he came back for them and accepted herself and Genis back into the group.

To be honest, she isn't keen on Colette giving up on her life to restore the world…even though she also knew that, if the world isn't regenerated, then Sylvarant will die. Now that she learned the truth, she doesn't want to lose her precious student ever again. It was the honest reason why she made a bargain with the Pope to help Colette. Yes, Sylvarant is her home…but she would rather have Colette remain alive than for her to die in a world where everyone else is alive – especially Lloyd. She noticed that Colette has a liking to the boy (and Lloyd seemed rather oblivious to it), for the last five years she had been with them.

The woman closed her eyes. "We'll worry about that later," she said. "For now, we have to wait for the people of Mizuho to come. Surely they can keep an eye on Yuri while we retrieve the Rheairds and rescue Colette."

"Yeah…I guess…" the boy sighed – he wasn't keen on the idea, but…what else could he do?

She checked the water in the basin. It had gotten warm. "I'll get some fresh water," she said, beginning to stand up to do so-

Lloyd sat up and shook her head. "Nah, I'll do that Professor," he said as he stood up. "I've got nothing else to do, and…I don't know how to take care of sick person, other than being there for them."

Yes that is true. The others were spread out around the camp, all of them doing…something. As usual, Zelos is trying to flirt with Sheena (with the ninja smacking him); Genis and Regal are cooking supper (some soup to make it easier for the possibly ill man to eat); and Presea and Rita were staring off into space – perhaps they're not used to doing nothing.

She nodded. "All right Lloyd." They were fortunate that they were able to locate a small lake near their campsite. Not only for them to get some water for their canteens, but for their other purpose as well.

The boy took the basin, and walked over to the lake, dumping the water while doing so.

Raine made a soft smile, shaking her head and turned back to the man before her-

She blinked when she noticed a stray tear going down Yuri's closed eye, his breathing seemed to have evened out completely (it seemed to have done that while they were talking) and his eye lids were clenched before he slowly opened them. …And was it just her or did the grey in his eyes turned…brighter? It's almost a bluish shade. The ring of green is still there, but…it's noticeable now…

The greyish-blue eyes were clouded, unfocused at first…then they cleared – only a little – and he shifted his head over to the half-elven woman next to him. "…Raine…?" He let out.

The Professor let out a sigh she didn't realize she was holding, and brushed a bit of his bangs from his forehead to check his temperature. He's still warm, but he's feeling a bit better. "You're awake," she said, before she moved her hand to the back of his neck. It's slick with sweat, but not feverishly hot. Good, no side-effects of…whatever Yuri may have gotten. "You had us worried when you suddenly fainted back at the temple."

"…I did?" He asked, as he blinked in confusion. Shifting his head to look up at the sky, he added, as if an afterthought, "I don't remember that…"

"Understandable," the Professor said, gently moving her hand from under the man's neck. "You fainted so suddenly after we left the seal room. Regal was the one who carried you out."

"…Oh…" The man looked up at the night sky about him. "…It's night already? How long have I been out?"

"For a couple of hours," she answered, pulling out his canteen (thanking Genis for filling it with cool water before hand) and opened it. "We left the temple at around sunset." She carefully poured the water into the lid; she felt it'll be safer if he drank it from a cup instead.

"…Huh…" He let Raine pull him up into a sitting position.

"Can you drink this?" The Professor asked gently, holding the cup to him. The man looked over at the canteen and he tried to lift a hand – _tried_ to – but it seemed a wave of dizziness hit him and he grunted, dropping his hand. With a small sigh, the ends of her lips twitching into a smile, she helped the man drink the water, tipping the cup gently so as not to choke him.

Once he had his fill, she gently placed him back, his head on Repede. "Thanks…" he rasped.

As she nodded, Repede let out a whine, nudging his hand a little, prompting the man to scratch his head with a tired smile.

"Yuri!" She heard Lloyd let out and he came over to the man's side; placing the basin down. "Hey, you're awake! Are you feeling all right?"

The man closed his eyes. "It feels like I have paralysis, poison, weak and petrify all at the same time," he muttered. "I feel like crap."

Lloyd put on a grin and stood up. "I'll let the others know you're awake!" He took off to do just that.

Yuri let out a sigh, shaking his head a little. "That kid has boundless energy, I swear…"

Raine let out a small chuckle. She then gave a condensing look over to the man. "Yuri, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Before you woke up…what did you dream about?"

Yuri gave her a confused look. "Huh…?"

The female half-elf looked around for a moment, seeing that Lloyd was someone in a conversation with Zelos, with Sheena having her hand ready to smack him. Okay, good, that'll give her enough time for this. She looked back down at the man. "A tear came from your eye before you woke up," she explained. "Do you mind explaining why?"

The dark haired man looked over at the woman for a few moments, then he made a solemn look, looking back up at the sky. "I…really can't explain it," he said, "Bits of it are kinda faded, and a bit hazy. But…I remember a few things."

"I was…some place dark," he began, "I was lying on…what I think is the ground. I was unable to move. All I could do is lie there…all of a sudden, there was this…inky black substance making its way over to me. Slithering like snakes sneaking up on their prey. I tried to get away…but I was too weak to move. All I could do is try to swat the tendrils away as they began to cover me. I got weaker, and weaker…I thought it was the end for me. And then…all of a sudden, there was this bright flash of light. For some reason, it didn't hurt my eyes, but it seemed to have hurt those…strange things…that made them retreat to wherever they came from. This light…had a person inside of it. I think…it was a woman… For some reason, she felt…so familiar… I couldn't understand it. I tried reaching for her, and I somehow saw her smile through the light, and she disappeared."

The man closed his eyes as soon as he was finished. "I don't know why…but I felt this pang in my chest when that happened. Maybe…that woman is important to me in some way…"

To be honest, Raine couldn't make out what the dream could mean. The black ooze, and with Yuri getting weak as they covered him…could that ooze meant…death in a way? Yuri was close to death? No; something was telling her that wasn't the case. But whatever the case, the woman in Yuri's dream saved him. It might've been someone that Yuri knew. But, again, she couldn't be sure.

"Well…let us hope that dream doesn't mean anything," Raine told him, putting her hands onto her lap.

The half-elven woman noticed Repede's head raising up, his ears twitching, as he seemed to look around a little. "What is it, Repede?" Yuri asked, trying to look up at the canine.

"WOAH!" Her head jerked to where Lloyd is, having heard him yelp-

"Where the hell did you guys come from? ?" The boy questioned the Mizuhoan ninjas that had…suddenly appeared around them – the boy sitting on the ground; it seems that he was taken by surprise by their unexpected appearance. If it hadn't been for Repede, they wouldn't even realize that they're here at all.

The boy was ignored, as the one in blue – Orochi if she remembered – as he looked over the ninja within their group. "So you succeeded in forming the pact," he said, nodding. "Congratulations, Sheena."

The purple clad woman frowned, remembering the events that occurred back in the temple. "Y-Yeah, thanks Orochi…"

The man noticed the tone in her voice, and looked around for a moment before looking back at her. "…What happened?" He asked finally.

Zelos looked over at the ninja, and back at Orochi. "We…kinda lost a comrade during the pact," he explained.

Silence went by as the man took in what the Chosen of Tethe'alla had said. "…I see," Orochi said, finally. "I'm sorry, Sheena."

The female ninja shook her head. "I-It's alright, Orochi," she assured him, "It isn't your fault."

Orochi gestured to the three to follow him and they gathered to where Raine, Yuri and Repede are, the others gathering as well, passing bowls of soup among each other, but they set down the last bowl since they didn't know that Yuri is awake.

The man pulled out a large piece of paper, and unrolled it onto the ground. When Raine moved herself closer, she understood that it's a map of the area they're in, along with the area around Mizuho/Ozette, and an area called Flanoir; the writings on them are in Mizuhoan language. For a handmade map, it's pretty accurate.

After he gave them a look over, he glanced back down at the map. "Southeast of here, there is a fjord-like area covered with ice bordering the Flanoir continent," he said, pointing the area out with one finger. "The entrance to the Renegade base is here. Now, according to our moles, the Rheairds are being kept in the hanger there."

"Moles?" Lloyd questioned.

"Spies, Lloydie," Zelos replied.

"H-Hey!" Lloyd protested.

Raine shook her head at this, and looked back to the male ninja, as he nodded to confirm what Zelos had said. "That's correct," he said, "Fortunately for you, we've managed to infiltrate the Renegades. Originally, it was to investigate the declining world of Sylvarant, but now it will certainly make things easier when we retake the Rheairds."

"What will we need to do, then?" Sheena questioned.

He just shook his head, rolling the map again. "For tonight, all of you get some rest, I'm sure the battle with Volt took a lot out of you." They all nodded to confirm his statement. "In the meantime, it's come to my attention that one of your comrades had fallen ill. He'll become a liability if we were to try to infiltrate the base later."

"H-Hey!" Yuri spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "Don't I get a say in this?"

"…How long have you been awake?" Genis asked.

"For a while," he answered, raising his brow at them. "But, seriously, don't I get a say in this?" Raine thought she heard Lloyd mutter something about 'meant to tell the others about Yuri being awake', but she isn't concerned by it right now.

"I'm afraid that Orochi has a point, Yuri," Raine said, "You're still sick, and if the Renegades caught you alone…there's no telling what they'll do." She didn't want to think of what they'll do to him if they were separated. She doubts that the Renegades are anything like the Desians…but they really couldn't take any chances.

"It's been decided that some of the men with me will take Yuri back to Mizuho to recover," Orochi said, getting their attention back to him, "while me and the others will head out to the base first thing in the morning. It'll be a two and a half day trip, so I hope that you are well prepared."

"Well…on the bright side, you'll probably be better after resting for two days," Lloyd tried to brighten the dark haired man's mood. He merely made a frumpy frown at the thought of rest and shifted his head to look away.

"This sucks…" She heard the man mutter to himself.

Raine sighed, picking up the bowl she was handed and slowly ate the soup. "I know you don't like it, Yuri," she said to him, after the others had scattered for the night, "But if you don't get rest, you'll end up making yourself sicker."

The man sighed through his nose. "…I know," he said – and the Professor had a feeling that he _did_ know – then shook his head. "But, I can't just sit around and do nothing, twiddling my thumbs while that nut job is doing who knows what to Colette. I hate being useless, more than anything…"

"…And you felt useless when Corrine died before Sheena," Raine guessed, looking over at him. When he merely grunted, she looked down at the ground. "All of us were unable to save Corrine, with Volt's Lightning Mana coursing through our bodies. You don't have to blame yourself for what had happened back there."

"But, if I had done something, then Corrine would still be alive!" Yuri protested, pushing himself to sit up-

He let out a groan, palming his forehead with a grimace. Raine just gently eased the man back to the ground, after folding his vest to be used as a substitute pillow when Repede got up to stretch his legs. "You should get some rest," she told him, "After we get the Rheairds, we'll come back to Mizuho to pick you up. If you're better by then, all of us will go after Colette."

She really didn't mean to, but she couldn't help but stroke his head as she said that-

The man did a take at the touch, and he closed his eyes as he tried to lean into the stroke. Raine blinked at that. She tried to pretend that she didn't notice the…oddity, for the man's sake. She removed her hand and, setting down her bowl, she picked up Yuri's. "Can you eat?" She asked him, "You'll need to keep up with your strength."

"…I think so," the man answered, sounding as if – for a brief moment – he isn't sure of himself.

So she helped the man sit up and watched over him as he silently ate his food. The group didn't do much for the rest of the night, other than resting for the two day trip tomorrow to the Renegade's base, talking to each other and to sometimes check on Yuri (with Sheena giving Yuri the charm that Kunichinawa gave her back when they first required the EC and Wingpack; saying it was for good luck).

Early in the next morning, most of the men with Orochi took Yuri in a makeshift stretcher, carrying the man to their boat, as Orochi and the others left for the Renegade base.

Once everyone had woken up, and eaten breakfast, they, too, made their way to the base.

…Yet, at some point during the ride, Raine could've sworn she saw what seemed to be a shooting star streaking through the sky when she looked out the window to ease her queasiness. But how could that be? They normally don't appear during day time.

She just hopes that Yuri is fine wherever he is; and that nothing would go wrong…

_**~o~**_

Everything went so horribly wrong.

He ran as fast as his aching legs allow him. He had to get away like they told him to, before the Knights could catch him.

Finding cover in the dense foliage, Yuri leaned against a tree and sank to the ground, panting. Dammit, all of this running around isn't making him feel any better. He's still sick from…whatever the hell happened to him yesterday.

The dark haired man remembered clearly what happened earlier. It was sometime after they had gotten off of the boat – it took them a lot longer to get around than the EC, but he didn't care at the time; as long as he could get some rest. He was awake at the time, when his hypersensitive hearing (along with a familiar gut feeling) heard familiar clanking of metal boots, and the Papal knights suddenly came out of the forest. It was chaotic for a few moments, the ninjas trying to fight off the knights, and defending the sick man from the Pope's men. It was around that time when one of them ordered Yuri to run. He could've helped them fight the Knights off, but he was still weak – and he's weaponless at the time since Raine took his sword (again) – so he had no choice but to flee.

That's where he is now. As the man regained his breath, and trying to find ways to cool down his rising (or is it lowering – he couldn't tell) temperature, he asked himself: how did the Pope's men find them? ? He was pretty damn sure they kept themselves hidden and on their toes to make sure that the Knights won't catch them, since the Pope seems to be hell-bent on killing them. The Knights managed to track them down to the Gaoracchia Woods, to around Ozette a couple of days ago…and now this? ? How the hell did they-?

He felt soup broths heading his way – none of which felt like people from Mizuho – and he forced himself to keep quiet, hearing the metallic sounds of armor coming into his area.

"He went this way, I'm sure of it," he heard one of them say – sounding like the commander (just how many of them are there?).

"The people from Mizuho have a lot of nerve pulling a stunt like that," another said, "Helping the criminal escape out here." Yuri had to repress an annoyed sigh – what else is new?

"I wonder what happened to his companions," another spoke up, "The tracking device should've been with them, right?" Yuri blinked at that. Tracking device? What?

"They most likely abandoned him," the commander said, "He was even left without a sword, and not much to defend himself with." Actually, if he was at full strength, he could still take them down – with or without a weapon; he might even snag one of their swords if he gets the chance.

Yuri edged himself a little to see the men – ten in total, not good – one of them in red/silver colored armor holding something up to his face. The commander (he suppose) made an annoyed grunt. "That ninja better not tricked us – he said he would give the tracker to them, making it easier to find them. Yet they're proving to be hard to catch."

At that, Yuri stopped listened to them, feeling his blood run cold and making himself hidden again. A Mizuhoan…gave them something that the Papal Knights are able to find them? ? But, he thought-

It suddenly hit them, his eyes widening as he recalled what he had heard the day before yesterday, when he had spoken to Orochi.

He remembered that Orochi had told him that his and Kunichinawa's parents were one of the victims that were killed when Volt went berserk. Orochi held no resentment to Sheena, after being informed of the situation at hand, and being understanding at the time. Although, he admitted that he wasn't sure if his younger brother is as forgiving to Sheena back then. Yuri put two and two together, but didn't say anything to the female ninja.

But…this all just proves it, he thought as he pulled out the charm Sheena had handed him last night. She had no idea of the malicious intent the man had towards her…Kunichinawa is working for the Pope, in hopes of getting revenge on her…for something that she was forced to do! The man let out a growl and crushed the charm in his hand (ignoring the pain on his hand when parts of it pierced the skin), before throwing it away somewhere.

"Hey! The tracker went dead!" Yuri turned his head to the voices behind him, and forced himself to stand and run away again.

He heard the voices of the Papal Knights, but he was too busy running away to care. He had to get away.

But Yuri soon came to a halt when he found himself at the cliff. He heard the ocean waters crashing onto the rock face below him. The dark haired man bit back a curse – dammit, how cliché!

"This way!" He shifted his eyes to where he heard the voices. Dammit, if he doesn't do something quick, he's going to get caught! Glaring down at the ocean below him, he has little to no choice.

He has to fly.

The man was about to pull out his wings, just before two sounds reached his ears:

One was of the knights that had broken out of the forest he had just come out from.

The other…was of the sound of something crumbling.

He was unable to register the part of the cliff collapsing before he found himself plummeting to the ocean below him.

Panic took over- He has to get out of here! He can't get caught- Can't get killed-!

Instinct took over and he pulled out his wings-

He heard himself screaming- pain, why is he in pain-? ?

Flaps of the wings- and the roar of the wind is deafening to his ears. He was going at speeds unimaginable, making his eyes water from the velocity. It doesn't matter, he has to get away- No, he has to go back and kill them. _Kill those inferior to you_- What?

He felt large amounts of Mana – threatening? No…he didn't think so – ignored it, keep flying. _No, kill those underneath you_- No, stop it! Shut up! Leave him alone-!

An incredible exhaustion suddenly hit him, and he found himself slowing down- No, he isn't safe. He still has to get away…

He found himself unable to fight against the exhaustion. Falling back – barely registering the familiar ball of light that flickers now and the spores and feathers that are his wings dissolving into the air – he found himself plummeting to the sea again. He felt the cold chill of the wind licking his exposed skin, heard the wind rushing against him.

He felt something. It was…creamy- ice cream. Cruxis? No…it…feels different. It feels like…a milky cream – like it was a…black raspberry frozen yogurt.

The young man felt arms holding his back and waist up, and he somehow gently lands in…whoever caught him. It was…odd. He felt so…oddly safe in whoever caught him.

Yuri tried to look up at the person who caught him. His sight is incredibly blurry, but he managed to make out a cobalt blue color…and something purple behind this person.

It somehow brings ease to him. His eyes fluttered close and – despite himself – his head leans against the person's chest.

Before darkness took him, he thought he heard the person mutter softly:

"…arisu…"

And there was nothing.

* * *

**Oooh…I wonder what's happening right there? *smiles impishly***

**Yuri: "What the hell did you do to me? And what the hell is 'arisu'?"**

**I'm not telling. Even if you threaten me in any way possible, I still won't tell. *chuckles a little evilly***

**Lloyd: …I'm not sure if I should be scared or not…**

**Ah, don't be Lloydie. *ignored the boy's indigent "Hey!"* Anyways, how do you guys like the chapter? Did I put the drama parts down good? None of them are out of character, are they? I hope not! As for Yuri getting sick out of nowhere…it's a VERY important plot device for later on.**

**Estelle: "Isn't most of the chapter inspired by the songs from Elfen Lied?"**

**Yes; yes they are. Especially Hakuri (which plays when Lucy is killing people; and during the chase scene in the story), Osu Sora (which plays a few times when Mariko is involved; the beginning part in which Yuri falls into the person's arms), and one part is inspired by 'Behind Us' (which plays when something…sinister happens with the Desians and few times with the Renegades; when Yuri collapsed) and the other part is inspired by 'Enveloped in Tenderness' (the song comes from Tales of Xillia; where Raine took care of the awakened but ill Yuri). All of which you can thank Youtube for.**

**Raven: "…That's a lot of songs."**

**I know, right? Anyways *looks to the reader* leave a review folks! And whatever flames I get, I think I'll figure out what to do with them. **


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